Stability of the Past: The Beginning
by GoodieTwo-Shoes
Summary: The god-like being, Control, has given the planet a second change. His spirit apprentices, Harmony and Chaos, now have the great opportunity to give this planet a balance of their two forces by bringing life to it once again. But when Chaos oversteps his boundaries, the stability of the planet is in serious jeopardy. (Rated Teen for safety and possible later chapters.)
1. Chapter 1: A Planet Reborn

A newly recovered planet emerged from the darkness of space. It had previously been inhabited by giant reptiles known as dinosaurs. The occupants had been uncivilized and unruly. The planet had been complete chaos, so its inhabitants had been destroyed. Nothing was left behind.

It was now time to give the planet a second chance. Blue with water and brown with barren earth, it was completely lifeless once again. Not even a single blade of grass had broken through the dirt-covered ground.

Control, the god-like creator of this planet, looked down at his creation with his usual blank expression. His circular form, exactly half black and half yellow, orbited the giant sphere as he carefully observed every inch of it. His cloud-like body glowed with green light, as did his focused eyes. Satisfied that his creation was perfectly balanced, he called for his spirit-like apprentices.

"Harmony. Disharmony," Control calmly called.

Two smaller figures materialized in front of him. One was oval-shaped and glowed with yellow light. Her body was the color of a rainbow from top to bottom. The rainbow started with pink and was followed by orange, yellow, white, blue, and purple. The other figure was bell-shaped and radiated black darkness. His form was colored like a rainbow as well, but it started from bottom to top. His colors looked as though the light had been sucked out of them: gray and dull. Their bodies resembled clouds as well. They both had eyes that matched their mentor's in color. Her eyes were bright and just, and his were dark and mischievous.

"I asked you to call me Chaos," Disharmony seethed, "I don't want 'harmony' in my name." Pulling his stubby arm out, he hid his mouth and whispered in Control's non-existent ear, "It's a girl's name." Harmony rolled her eyes. Chaos assumed his original position and said with a sideways smile, "Harmony is a dumb name anyway." Harmony made a face at him and shook her head with a sigh. "Besides, I don't want to be associated with anything harmony-y."

"It's harmonious," Harmony corrected with another sigh. "I believe Control called us here for a reason." She directed her attention back towards Control. "Sorry, sir," she apologized with a small bow.

"It is time to bring life to this planet once again," Control announced, "You two are now ready to complete this task on your own." Harmony's face showed her uncertainty. Chaos, however, was ecstatic. He bounced in place.

"YES!" he cheered, "Finally, we get to do some real stuff."

"Pardon me, sir," Harmony politely said, "I don't mean to disagree, but are you sure we are ready to bring life to an entire planet?"

"Yes. You both have practiced under my watch for a long time now. It is time for you both to move on to the next step," he said evenly.

"Yes sir. If you say we are ready, then I must agree." Harmony weakly smiled.

"Come on! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Chaos exclaimed. He was now bouncing in circles around them.

"Could you please show a little patience?" Harmony said with annoyance.

Chaos stopped bouncing and made a thoughtful face. Then he simply answered, "No." He continued bouncing.

"You're impossible sometimes," she said as she narrowed her eyes.

"No. I'm impossible all the time," he said with a mischievous smile.

"Ahem -" they both turned back towards Control "- You will both go down to the planet and create which ever types of living beings and plant life you wish. However, the creatures and plants must have stability. There is to be an equal amount of harmony -" Control's eyes moved towards Harmony "- and disharmony -" he looked at Chaos "- The planet and its inhabitants need to have both, but they must be in balance. Once you both agree that this stipulation has been met, you will come back to me, and I will provide the creatures with souls." Harmony and Chaos looked at each other. She wore a worried expression. His was one of repulsion.

"You want **me** to work with **her**?" Chaos asked in disbelief.

"I wouldn't usually agree with him, but he's right. I can't get him to cooperate with me," Harmony respectfully complained.

"Now Harmony, you should have more faith in yourself," a new voice kindly counseled. Harmony turned around. Then she smiled.

The voice belonged to a bell-shaped creature that resembled Chaos, but her height matched that of Control. Her white cloud-like form was marbled with light blue, which matched her glow. Her green eyes were very feminine and mysterious. She smiled kindly at Harmony and floated over to Control. His face showed a slight bit of irritation.

"Hi, Destiny," Chaos greeted her eagerly. "Could you tell Control that me and Harmony **cannot** work together?" he said with spite as he eyed Control. Control's eyes slanted slightly and the corners of his mouth dropped a little.

"Hum hum," she laughed, "I'm afraid you two must find a way to cooperate." Chaos's face dropped, while Control mustered a small smile. "Control is correct. This planet does need stability. Without it, it will spiral out of control once again." Chaos grinned evilly. "You, Chaos" – his smile dropped, and he turned towards her – "are designed to create disharmony, just as Harmony is designed to create harmony. You both must bring balance to this world. It is your destiny." She smiled down at them. They both were in awe.

"Ahem -" they shook their heads and looked back at Control "- As I said, it is time for you two to go," Control said steadily. Harmony nodded once. Chaos sighed. They dematerialized leaving behind sparkles of yellow and black.

"Must you interrupt me?" Control asked evenly while looking forward. "I had everything under control." She simply laughed quietly.

* * *

The two spirit-like apprentices came into existence in an empty grassless field. Hovering above the ground, they looked around at the seemingly endless landscape. This was the first time either of them had been on a planet, and it was…

"Boring," Chaos stated. "This" - he emphasized while waving his stubby arms - "is boring." He slumped down.

Harmony said with a sigh, "That's why we're here…" She spun into the air and shouted while spreading her arms out enthusiastically, "…to bring life to this planet!" Chaos smiled. She floated back down to Chaos's side. "Okay. I'll make my harmonious creations over here -" she pushed him several feet away and moved back to her spot "- and you make your chaotic creations over there." She smiled and turned away. Chaos frowned at her back.

"Fine!" Chaos spat, "I didn't want any of your harmony getting on my chaos anyway."

"Precisely why I put you over there," she said cheerfully with a smile.

Chaos scrunched up his face wondering if she had tricked him somehow. Then he smiled happily. "Good!" He turned away as well.

Harmony decided to start small: something easy. She pulled out her stubby arms and waved them in front of her. Her body glowed brighter. A small yellow ball of light formed in front of her. It grew a little bigger and burst into sparkles. The sparkles cleared revealing a little, fluffy, gray animal with long ears and big feet. Harmony smiled at its cuteness. It was perfect! It was a completely normal and symmetrical bunny.

She glanced over towards Chaos. He obviously decided to start big. There was a giant explosion of black sparkles. It left behind a large odd-looking creature. It looked like a lion, but it had big dragon-like wings protruding from its back. Its tail looked like it belonged to a scorpion. It had large pointy ears and bulky front legs. It also fashioned huge fangs. Chaos smiled proudly at his manticore.

Harmony shook her head and turned back to her work. She gave her bunny a family and a burrow for a home. The ground around the bunny hole glowed yellow and shook. Several trees sprouted out of the ground. She finished it off with a lawn of grass, clover, and a few yellow dandelions. She smiled with pride and turned back towards Chaos.

He was surrounded by a variety of weird creatures. There was a scaly green chicken with a long tail and dragon wings. Beside it stood a wolf made of lumber. There was a two-headed creature with a snake for a tail. One of the heads was a tiger head, and the other was that of a goat. There was a crocodile that appeared normal at first, but, upon closer inspection, it was obviously made of rock. But the creature that Harmony was most concerned about was the huge green reptile with wings.

"Please, tell me that is not a dinosaur," Harmony begged as she approached Chaos.

"Of course not," Chaos said with a way of his stub hand. "It's a dragon!" He smiled excitedly.

"A dragon?" she asked. "That's practically the same thing as a dinosaur." She floated around it in observation.

"No it's not!" he protested from the ground, "It has wings."

Harmony floated back down and landed in front of him. "What about pterodactyls? They had wings," she pointed out calmly.

He frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but he had no rebuttal. He crossed his arms and grumbled, "It's not a dinosaur."

"I'm not sure Control will be okay with this," she said with concern. Chaos made a face. Then he grinned and floated over towards the bunnies. He pulled out his stub, and his black glow expanded. A black ball formed over one of the baby bunnies' heads and burst.

"What are you doing?" she asked with worry. On top of the little bunny's head between its ears were two tiny deer antlers. "Chaos!" she screamed. "What did you do?!"

"I improved it," he said with a proud smile.

"Improved it?! It looks ridiculous!" She spun around it in repulsion holding her head with her stubs.

He dramatically gasped and covered the lifeless bunny's ears, "How could you say that!? You'll hurt his feelings." He soothingly patted it on the head.

She sighed. "Even if he had a soul, he wouldn't be able to hear or even see me. We are just spirits to them. Now change him back!"

"No! I like him better this way." He picked up the odd little jackalope and hugged it tight.

"We are supposed to be cooperating and compromising, not messing with each other's creations!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Now, I feel that this bunny should be harmonious and normal. He is my creation, so I believe I should be the one to decide what he looks like. I therefore kindly ask you to please remove the antlers."

"I thank you for your kind words," Chaos said politely while placing the bunny on the ground. Harmony smiled. "But I must say…NO!"

Her smile fell. "Chaos! You…I…ugh!" she staggered angrily. He chuckled delightfully. She sighed loudly. "Just go back over there and give those creatures a home," she ordered while pushing him back to his spot. She floated away steaming. He chuckled some more before resuming his work.

Chaos grew his creatures a dark forest as a place to live. He added some odd plants, even some that could move. He put in a raging river and tossed the rocky crocodile in it. He multiplied the creatures he had already made and created some new ones. Some of his creatures were young and some were old. He refused to call them a family, however. Families were a harmonious thing. Harmony pointed out that the baby mammals and birds would need to be cared for until they were old enough to care for themselves. The reptile eggs would also need protection until they hatched. He reluctantly gave the mothers just enough maternal instincts to care for their young, which would only last long enough for the babies to grow up and the reptilian eggs to hatch.

Harmony's creatures, however, were very family oriented. They were kind and caring. Some of them even lived in packs or herds. Chaos was able to convince her to at least give them a little variety. Her squirrels, for instance, came in red, gray, and brown. She gave them a nice, quiet, calm forest as a home. It had a small river that slowly flowed through the trees. She filled the forest with birds, squirrels, bunnies, and insects. She also made some predatory animals, like wolves, bears, and snakes. She put them far away from the little animals. Sadly, death was part of life, but she could at least try to prolong the inevitable.

They both added some hills and mountains to the area. They formed some clouds in the sky and covered most of the remaining ground with grass. The area seemed complete. Harmony floated up into the air to get a better look. She frowned. The area was completely surrounded by Chaos's forest. Her creatures would be stuck in the giant oval or have to face the dangerous chaos creatures. Chaos joined her in the air. She gave him a sideways glare. He looked down at their work and then smiled toothily at her. She shook her head.

"This seems pretty good," she said, "But somethings missing."

"What?" he asked. "Oh, I know! We need more chaos riiight here" - he motioned his stubs around Harmony's area.

She gave him a disapproving look. "No," she said. He dropped his stubs down. "It needs…ponies!"

"Ponies?" Chaos raised one eye ridge.

"Yes! -" she smiled and floated back down "- It needs some creatures to control this area…creatures who are more sophisticated…creatures that can help keep this place in balance!"

"Ponies?" Chaos repeated. "I thought we weren't supposed to be making any creatures that lived here before." He followed her as she descended downwards. "How are ponies supposed to control anything anyway? They're no smarter than the rest of these creatures."

"Sure they were," she said as she reached the ground. "You just didn't see their potential. They made tools and built fires! The dinosaurs and other creatures never did that."

"Still, you want this world to be run by ponies?" he asked as if she were crazy.

She glowed brighter and pulled out her arms. "Well, not the whole world. I'm sure we can make some other creatures as well that can keep the balance and build things and talk and…"

"Hold on," Chaos stopped her with a grin, "You want to make smart ponies that control the world and can talk!?"

"Yes," she said evenly.

Chaos fell to the ground in a fit of laughter. "Ha ha ha…you're-you're…ha…kidding me…he…right!?"

She stopped and frowned. She looked down at him seriously and said, "No. I think ponies are intelligent and kind and perfectly capable of controlling their own land." She smiled sincerely. He continued laughing. "They just need a little help."

She raised her arms and glowed brighter once again. A yellow ball of light appeared and burst. Once the sparkles cleared, a golden yellow stallion was visible. His mane and tail were brown, short, and curly. His eye color matched. Chaos raised his head and looked at the male pony. Then he fell back over laughing. Harmony ignored him and created another pony. The mare was creamy white. Her main and tail were blonde, long, and wavy. Her eyes were baby blue.

"Ahem." Harmony stood over Chaos, who was still rolling in laughter. He gradually stopped laughing and pulled himself up. He floated up next to her and looked at the pair of ponies. He started giggle. She gave him a look. He calmed his giggles down until just a few escaped. "These ponies are not like the ancient cave ponies" – she floated behind them – "These ponies are special. They are more intellectual, and they have a sense of harmony."

"Stop!" Chaos interjected putting one stub up, "Harmony? These ponies have harmony?" He floated around the two new creatures.

"They have…um…underdeveloped harmony," she said with a smile, "It's in their blood, but they will have to learn how to bring it out and use it."

Chaos made a face. "That's not fair. Why do you get to have ponies with harmony?"

"What do you mean?" Harmony asked, "I have made many other creatures with harmony in them. These ponies just have a better sense of what harmony is. They just don't know it yet. Besides, you have plenty of creatures with chaos in them."

"Yes, but mine don't rule the world!" he yelled dramatically.

"They don't rule the world" – she rolled her eyes – "They just control this part." Chaos frowned. "Don't worry, they won't step…um…hoof into your forest." His expression didn't change. "Would you feel better if you had some chaotic creatures control some areas of this world?"

He smiled and gasped. He quickly frowned and crossed his stubs. "Maybe."

"Fine, but your creatures better not interfere with my ponies," she warned.

"Fine, but once they have souls it's up to them what they do," Chaos said with a grin.

She knew he was right. Once any of these creatures had his or her soul, Chaos and Harmony had little control over them. Control could communicate to them telepathically, but he rarely did it in the past. Destiny always had and will have indirect influence over the entire planet and its inhabitants. All Harmony could do was hope Chaos's creatures would leave her creatures alone. It was only fair to allow him to have some intelligent creatures as well.

"Fine," she simply said.

She made some more ponies of all different ages. She took Chaos's advice and gave the ponies many different bright and colorful hues. She actually thought they looked cuter that way. She placed the ponies in an empty field north of the small forest and hills she had created. Here they had room to build houses. The trees of her forest could provide wood, as well as food.

Chaos floated nearby, impatiently watching Harmony at work. He floated around in circles, trying to occupy himself. He counted all the ponies as Harmony created them, but that was too tedious for him. He tried to twiddle his fingers, but he didn't have any to twiddle. He just had too boring stubs at the end of his stubby little arms. He could give himself fingers, but it wasn't worth it. He'd still be bored.

There was nothing he hated more than waiting while someone else had all the fun. He frowned and looked at Harmony as she made another pony. Then he got an idea. With a mischievously smile, he quietly floated over to one of the mares. Her pink back glowed black. The black left behind a pair of matching feathery wings that folded over her sides. He snickered and floated over to another pony. Each pony he floated past grew a pair of bird-like wings.

Harmony heard his giggling and turned to see what he was up to. To her horror, about a third of her ponies now had wings.

"Chaos!" she screamed, "Stop that this instant!" She quickly floated over to him and snatched his stub.

"Hay!" he shrieked, "Let go of me!" He jerked his arm free and floated back slightly. "I'm making improvements." He smiled with glee.

"Not this again," she sighed, "We've already had this discussion. Now please remove those wings" – she pointed at the abominations.

"So, you don't want me to put wings on ponies, but you didn't care that I put antlers on half of your bunnies?" he asked with a serious frown.

"You what!?" she yelled and quickly floated into the forest to check on her bunnies. Chaos watched her leave. Once she was out of sight, he cackled and rubbed his stubs together.

A few minutes later, Harmony floated back into the field. She said as calmly as she could, "Chaos, please remove the antlers and win…" She stopped. He jaw dropped and her eye twitched. Another third of her ponies had not wings, but horns on top of their heads. Chaos turned around and smiled cheerfully at her.

"You like it?" he asked sinisterly. "The ones with horns can do magic!" He smiled excitedly.

"Agh! Chaos, remove all these imperfections now!" Her yellow glowed intensified and grew with rage.

"No. I think I'll leave them this way," he said evenly while looking at his improvements.

"Chaos!" she seethed, her glow turning slightly red.

"They are much better this way. They can fly" – he floated over to a winged pony and flapped her wings – "and they can do magic -" he flicked the horn of a stallion. "Think about their potential now!" he said enthusiastically, "They can soar over the mountains and all the way up to the clouds! They can use magic to build extraordinary homes and buildings!" Harmony's glow died down. She looked at him with a serious and thought-filled face. "It'll be so chaotic! Ponies will be flying through the sky and conducting magic at their will, while the sad little normal ponies will be stuck on the ground with no magic!" He laughed darkly, and his black glow grew. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" he laughed, throwing his arms up into the air. Harmony frowned.

"Whoa there killer," she said as she put her stubs on his shoulders. He stopped and looked at her with a scowl.

"Wha?" he complained.

"Let's not spiral this world back into complete chaos again," she said calmly. He frowned and dropped his stubs. "But you do have a point. With wings and magic they can accomplish so much more," she cheered enthusiastically as she spun away from him and looked out at the ponies. "Your improvements are actually…well…improvements," she laughed. His eyes slanted angrily and he opened his mouth to speak. "I think I'll let you keep the antlered bunnies." He smiled. "Come on. Let's go make some more creations," she said happily. She grabbed his arm and they disappeared.

They traveled all over the planet, leaving life everywhere they went. They created a desert land ruled by bison. They gave a snow-covered land to the yaks. They constructed a large mountain to house one of Chaos's creations. They were half eagle and half lion. In a land far from the ponies, Chaos created more hybrid creatures. Some stood up-right and had lion-like manes and tails. They also had bat-like wings. The other creatures of the land stood on four hooves with a horse body. Where the head would be was an erect body with arms and hands. They had bull heads with large horns. Chaos and Harmony even went underwater to create life. They made sea ponies, which resembled the other ponies, but had fins for forelegs and the bottom halves of their bodies were tail fins.

They materialized a distance away from the planet. They sluggishly circled the globe and observed all their hard work. They nodded to each other in agreement - far too tired to talk, let alone argue. They disappeared to go back to Control.

* * *

The two worn-out little spirits appeared in front of their mentor. Their glows had all but gone out.

"We are all done, sir," Harmony said tiredly. Chaos fell over, exhausted.

"Good," Control simply said. He looked down upon the planet. Harmony bit her lip and fiddled her stubs. Chaos didn't move. He just lied there, too drained to even look up. Control took his time observing every nook and cranny. He orbited the planet, frequently focusing in on certain areas of the globe to observe them with more care. He checked the air, land, and water for balance. He finally backed away. He raised his eye ridges slightly, a little surprised at how well they had done. "Very good," he merely stated.

Harmony smiled slightly. She was hoping to get more praise out of her reserved mentor. Chaos scrunched his face and raised his head to speak. Harmony quickly covered his mouth.

"Thank you, sir," she said, "We are pleased with your approval." Chaos just grumbled and dropped his head back down.

"You both have created a fair balance of chaos and harmony," Control continued, "These creatures will do much better than the previous inhabitants."

"Come now, Control," Destiny chimed as she appeared. "I believe they have done wonderfully." Harmony gasped quietly and smiled.

"Thank you so much, madam," Harmony beamed. Her glow brightened a little.

"Thanks, Destiny," Chaos said with gratitude while sitting up. He continued, speaking with accusation now in his voice, "I told Harmony the dragons and antlered bunnies and winged and horned po…humhhu -" Harmony covered his mouth.

"He…he," she awkwardly laughed.

Chaos pulled her stub away and said, "What?! He's already seen everything we did, and he gave it his 'Control Stamp of Approval'" - he air quoted - "that you so desperately wa…"

"Shh…shh…shhhh!" she quickly shushed him. "I…um…we…ah…he he," she babbled, her glow turning slightly pink. She looked down.

"Hum hum," Destiny laughed, covering her mouth. Harmony glowed pinker.

"Ahem -" Control gathered everyone's attention, "- It is time for the giving of the souls."

He floated up high above them, his green glow expanding. His light intensified. The two spirits shielded their eyes. White, transparent, and sheet-like lights began flowing from him. They drifted down towards the planet. Once there, they quickly scattered out and shot into their proper vessels. Harmony was astounded. Her mouth wordlessly awed as she peered down in wonderment. Chaos smiled at how chaotic the souls looked, weaving around each other and every obstacle. He secretly wished one of the souls would wander into the wrong body. That would be hilarious! He smiled, rubbing his stubs together hopefully. Destiny just smiled up at Control. She always loved to see him this way.

 **Author's Note :** **And thus a planet is reborn! Don't think I was being mean to MLP or its fans or anything. That's just Chaos. I was just poking fun at how most people react to MLP. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to review!**


	2. Chapter 2: New Life Begins

The sky was blue and blotched with fluffy white clouds. The sun was making its way through the sky. Exhausted and drained as she was, Harmony still performed her usually duty of raising the sun. Lucky for Chaos, he did not have to raise the moon or bring out the stars until that night. He had time to rest and recharge. Much to his dismay though, all the souls had found their proper vessels. The planet was finally alive with curious new creatures. Some looked around inquisitively, wondering where they were and what was happening. Other ran, jumped, swam, or took flight immediately, ready to explore the new world.

The first bunny that Harmony created stuck her pink little nose up, sniffing the fresh air. Then something bumped into her. She quickly turned around, unsure if it was danger. It was another bunny like her, but she was smaller, younger. Instinctively, she immediately knew she was the little bunny's mother, and she was to take care of and raise her. Using her head, she lovingly pushed her to her soft, little feet. The little bunny looked up at the larger one and turned her head to one side with one ear down. She blinked up at the larger creature. Then the little bunny's ears quickly perked up. She happily rubbed her head on her mom's soft chest. Her mother licked her head affectionately. Her daughter then happily hopped away to her siblings.

The mother bunny noticed a larger rabbit sitting near her children. He was slightly taller and broader than her. She carefully hoped over to his back and sniffed him. He turned around, his fluffy gray fur blowing in the cool breeze. His chest had a puff of white, soft fur. His feet were large and strong. His red eyes shined in the early morning light. Her ears dropped with a sigh.

He looked at her and blinked. She was slender and cottony. Her features were small and delicate. Her dark brown eyes were alluring. His ears went down. He gulped. She covered her face with her long ears and turned away bashfully. His ears slowly rose as he took a step towards her. He carefully pulled her ears away from her cute, fluffy white checks. She quickly turned her gleaming eyes away. He gently rubbed his head against hers.

Their children had taken interest and were watching them curiously. She slowly brought her eyes towards his. Their eyes meet, glistening in the light. His ears dropped. Hers went back, delicately lying on her neck. They inched closer together. Their pink noses gently touched.

They were suddenly attacked by four happy, bouncing little bunnies. They all gently tumbled over to the ground. The little bunnies rubbed around on their parents. They licked and snuggled them in return.

"Oh gross!" Chaos gagged. He and Harmony were watching the bunnies using Control's magnifying viewer device. It resembled a large holographic screen with a purplish clear floor in which its watchers connected. Harmony and Chaos floated above the floor, but, when the Viewer was moved to orbit around the planet, they moved along with it. The Viewer allowed them to zoom in without actually moving closer to the planet. After doing a quick sweep over the whole planet, Harmony elected that they use Control's device to focus in and check on her first creations. Other than raising the sun and moon, their job now was to keep an eye on the planet and notify their mentor if they saw anything extreme that needed attention. Control's Viewer made this job easier.

"I'm going to throw up from all this cuteness!" he continued. He gagged and covered his mouth, checks puffing out as if filled with vomit.

"Aww! They're just so adorwable!" Harmony cooed, her stubs smooshing her checks and muffling her speech. Chaos face-palmed, sliding his stub down his face.

"Can't we watch something else now?" he whined. Harmony made cooing faces at the bunnies lying on her belly, ignoring Chaos. He rolled his eyes. Then his face brightened. "Ooo! Let's watch the manticore!" he said excitedly. The globe suddenly zoomed out quickly until it was just a barely visible speck.

"Huh?" Harmony said, sitting up quickly. The globe quickly zoomed into an empty desert. "What the?" It zoomed way out, but quickly zoomed back into the ocean. Some orange fish swam into view. She heard a growl. The Viewer zoomed out again. The floor they were floating above moved swiftly, orbiting them to right. Harmony swayed to one side, trying to stay balanced. Then it zoomed in again. "What is going on?" she asked, looking around.

Chaos was holding his intensely glowing stubs out, his face wrinkled and tongue sticking out. The globe continued randomly zooming in and out and orbiting them around in different locations.

"What are you doing?!" Harmony shrieked in surprise, quickly floating over to him.

"I'm trying to find the manticore," he grunted in frustration, zooming in on the arctic.

"Chaos, settle down," she said, looking at him. "You're using too much power," she said, pointing at him.

After making all their creations on the planet, not only had their yellow and black glows diminished, their rainbow colors had faded as well. Now Harmony was striped with pale yellow colors that resembled her usual rainbow, except for her purple stripe that looked normal. Chaos was colored with a pale gray rainbow. The dark grayed pink color he had gained back was fading again. He glanced down at himself and noticed the faded returning color. His face hardened.

"Grrr…I'm fine," he growled. He promptly orbited them halfway around the globe. She swayed to one side and held her head. He quickly stopped, throwing her to one side. He magnified their view, zooming into the globe again.

"But I'm not," she said, stumbling around. "You're making me dizzy."

Suddenly, a large eyeball appeared on the screen.

"Ahh!" they screamed in unison. Chaos quickly zoomed back out.

"Will you at least slow down?" she asked, holding her chest and breathing heavily.

He ignored her. He spotted a forest and quickly focused in on it.

"I've almost got it," he said with determination. Harmony looked at the Viewer. She wrinkled her face.

"That's the wrong forest," she deadpanned. He raised one eye ridge.

"I knew that," he said casually. She rolled her eyes. "I just meant I was close."

She made a face and said, "The forest the manticore's in is on the other side of the planet."

"Uhhhh…"

"Here, let me do it," she said, raising her stubs.

"I got it," he said tiredly, trying to sound angry. Only half of his pink color was left. His eyes were heavy, and his body was slumped.

"You've almost used all your power," she observed. "Just let me do it." Her stubs glowed lightly. She zoomed out and began slowing orbiting them around to the other side of the globe.

"Nuh uh. You'll just look at the bun…bunnies again," he said woozily, struggling to orbit them in the other direction.

"I already got to watch those _adorable_ bunnies," she sighed happily. "If you want to look at your manticore, then we will," she said honestly. She easily pulled back, moving them back the other way.

"No! I'll do it," he said, a little more determined. He pulled them back harder in the other direction. His eye ridges were now slanted in a "v" shape. She pulled back again, her stubs glowing more. He jerked them back, his whole body glowing intensely. She stumbled over. Her stubs stopped glowing.

Breathing heavily, she said, "Fine…you do it. I'm too tired to fight with you." She sat up. "Why would I care if you…drained all your power anyway?" she said with some anger, floating a little ways away from him. "You're less annoying when you're drained," she gibed. She lied down on the purple tinned clear floor.

He smiled and snickered. He jerked them around to the other side, Harmony rolling in the process. "Please, at least slow down…and focus," she said tiredly, involuntarily rolling over to her belly. "And don't use some much power," she advised, "It doesn't take much to control the Viewer or orbit it around the planet."

He scowled down at her, ready to argue. Then he closed his mouth and glared back at the planet. He glanced around with his tired green eyes, trying to figure out where he was. He saw some mountains in the south. North of them were some big hills and a forest. His eyes narrowed with concentration. Farther up was an empty field. He smiled. A little farther up still and westward was the forest he was looking for.

He raised his stubs and made them glow lightly. He slowly zoomed into the trees, using as little power as he could, which was not easy for him. He focused his mind. He closed his eyes, moving them through the trees automatically. Harmony raised her head and looked at him. His face was wrinkled in concentration. She looked at the Viewer and smiled. She stood up and floated over to him as he searched for the manticore. They stopped moving. She tapped his shoulder. He unscrunched his focused face and opened his eyes.

"I found him!" he gasped excitedly. The lion hybrid was stalking through some viney bushes. "I did it! I…I…ugh," he said, falling over.

Helping him up, Harmony said, "You know the other forest with the bunnies is just right over there."

"Huh?" he said, disoriented while trying to get up.

"If you just took it slow in the first place, you could have found him a lot easier and not have exhausted your power," she lectured, pulling him up.

"Oh…whatever," he slurred. He rubbed his head. "I found him, didn't I?" he said, righting himself. "And I still got some power left," he said, looking down. A tiny sliver of grayed pink was still visible. She sighed. "Now, let's see what my manticore is doing," he said, rubbing is stubs together eagerly.

Together they watched the manticore through the Viewer. Harmony quickly locked the Viewer on him so it would automatically follow him. The manticore was alone. Chaos did not give him a family…or um any other manticores to be with. So he hunted alone, still looking for his first meal. His large bat-like ears were erect, listening for the sound of prey. His tan and black bat wings were flat against his body. His black scorpion tail was up and ready to strike. Protruding from his large tan paws were his sharp claws prepared for attack. He stalked around the trees, sniffing the air and eyeing his surroundings.

"You find this entertaining?" Harmony suddenly asked with boredom. She glanced at him. His eyes were glued on the Viewer.

"Shhhh!" he loudly shushed her, waving a stub in her direction. His eyes never left the Viewer.

She looked back at the screen and said, "But he's not even doing anything. He's just walking around." Chaos turned his head and looked straight at her. "What?"

"He's not just 'walking around,'" he mimicked. "He's stalking," he said with a wide toothy grin. He turned back towards the Viewer. She looked back at it for a minute. The manticore was still just walking through the trees. She made a face.

"It just looks like he's walking to me," she stated.

He sighed, "Look closer, and stopped think like a goodie-goodie."

She looked at the creature again. She noticed how his ears turned with every sound. His wings were hidden, and his claws were retracted. His walk was slow and precise. After observing him more closely, he did seem very alter to just be taking a stroll. Maybe Chaos had better attention to detail than she thought, at least when it came to things he enjoyed.

"Ooooh, here comes the best part," he almost squealed, grabbing her stub and shaking her from her thoughts. She turned her attention back to the manticore. He was now low to the ground and taking long slow steps. His ears were flat against his black mane. His eyes were focused and locked on something. She followed his line of sight. In the short grass was a little cockatrice chick. It pecked the ground with its tiny yellow beak, its long scaly green tail lying lazily on the ground.

Her eyes widened. She looked back at the manticore. He was creeping closer. Chaos's eyes were wide with excitement and anticipation. His face was contorted into a wide, mad smile.

Harmony gasped, "He's going to get that baby!" His face dropped and he looked at her.

"Duh. He's a predator," he said focusing back on the scene. "What else would he eat?" He resumed his mad grinning.

"But it's just a baby! Don't you care? It's one of your creations!" she argued in a panic.

"Life and death are part of the harmony of life, aren't they?" he said with disinterest, still watching as the manticore crept closer to the hybrid chick. He grinned again.

She disputed, "Yes, but it's just a…"

"No buts!" he interrupted her. She tried to speak again. "Hush! Death is the only part of harmony I like," he said with his stubs crossed. He got up in her face and said darkly, "Don't ruin it." He swung back around and somehow pressed his face into the holographic screen, happily watching with a wide open-mouth smile as the manticore prepared to attack.

Harmony blinked. She looked at him strangely. Her eyes caught sight of the manticore. His forelegs were bent and his tail was up. He was ready to pounce. The little chick was completely unaware as it continued to peak the ground. She gasped. She looked at Chaos. He was so excited his black glow had expanded to its normal size again. She looked back at the Viewer. She bit her lip. The manticore leapt forward. It inched closer to the chick as gravity pulled it down. She gasped.

The Viewer suddenly blurred. Chaos sprung back. His expression was a mixture of shock, sadness, and confusion. His mouth silently tried to make words. Voice failing him, he looked around for an explanation. He spotted Harmony. Her head was turned away, her face winkled. Her stubs were stretched in front of her, glowing brightly. Chaos's eyes narrowed, his sharp teeth showing. His black glow darkened and expanded.

"Harmony!" he yelled. She gasped and opened her eyes. He floated directly in front of her. "What are you doing?" he growled in a low, deep tone. Her stubs went back into her body.

It was now Harmony's voice that could not be found. "I…I-I-I…" she stammered. He glared at her. Black smoke-like mist flowed from his darkening green eyes. Her glow diminished in fear. "I-I…I panicked!" she stuttered. He growled unforgivingly, leaning into her closer. "I just…I couldn't watch it," she defended, shrinking down and backing away.

"So you ruined it for me?" he asked darkly, floating closer and leaning over her.

"No. I mean…I…I didn't mean to," she said circling around him and backing up towards the Viewer, Chaos following her every move. "I know death is part of life, but that poor little chick's life was so short," she rambled fearfully. Chaos didn't say anything. "I didn't want to see it die," she continued. Chaos's angry face turned to interest. "Even if it was a creature of Chaos," she persisted. He was looking up above her now. His eyes and black glow were back to normal. She didn't notice and rambled on, "And I'm sure there are plenty of other creatures, even babies, dying all over the planet right now being attacked by predators." Chaos looked at her and made an expression of irritation. "I know the predators have to eat too, but I just don't…umhumh."

Covering her mouth, Chaos said with annoyance, "Will you shut up?" Her eyes widened and finally looked at him. "Your bunnies are finally doing something interesting," he said, releasing her mouth and pointing up at the Viewer. Her eyes moved up to the upside-down screen. She turned around, eyes still on the Viewer. In her panic, she had turned the Viewer back over to the bunny family.

The gray bunnies had taken interest in a little shrub that appeared to have a pair of tiny tan antlers. They sniffed at it curiously. It moved, startling the baby bunnies. They jumped back and hid behind their parents. The mother bunny turned her head at the odd moving plant. She sniffed it again, slowly sticking her head inside. Her four babies nervously watched from behind their father.

Her head slowly emerged. She turned to her family and placed a tiny bunny on the ground. He looked like the others, but he had two antlers on his head. He gulped with his ears down. The father bunny sniffed the new addition. His children hopped out from behind him and surround the odd little creature.

"Let's see how your sweet little bunny family feels about their oddball son," Chaos said menacingly. Harmony bit her lip. She had forgotten about Chaos's improvement upon one of the baby bunnies. The family was so perfect too, all happy and in harmony.

The little jackalope hunkered down nervously. His father turned away, not pleased.

Chaos laughed. "It doesn't look too good for your little bunny," he teased, "His dad already hates him." Harmony anxiously chewed her lip.

The jackalope's four siblings looked at their father. They looked back at the antlered bunny. Their father made a sound and gestured with his head for them to come. The little oddball closed his eyes and looked away.

"It looks like some of your wolves will be having an easy meal," Chaos said. Harmony's eyes were big and glossy with unshed tears. Her yellow glow began to get a sad blue tint. Chaos smiled evilly with glee.

The little bunny felt something touch its antler. He opened his eyes and looked up. His sister was carefully feeling his odd feature. He rose his head up. She jumped back. He blinked his wet eyes and turned his head at her. She turned her head at him. Then he saw his other siblings behind her. Their father was watching them from afar. She touched his antler again. He stepped back, unsure. The others hopped to his sides. He looked at them nervously. One of them touched his antler. He shook his head at the odd feeling. They all jumped back, startled. They quickly hoped back to him, still curious. They all began touching the strange appendages on his head. He slowly raised his ears and watched his sibling with only his eyes so not to scare them.

He suddenly felt something touch his tail. He jumped, scaring the others. They all scattered. The antlered bunny bumped into something soft. He tumbled over and looked up. It was his father. He quickly got to his feet and back away, bumping into his mother. His ears dropped. He was trapped. She looked down at him kindly. She gently rubbed her head against his check. His ears went up in surprise. His siblings soon joined in the display of affection and acceptance.

A shadow formed over them. The little ones looked up and then ran behind their mom. The little oddball glanced up. His father was towering over him. He backed up further into his mother. She looked at the larger bunny. She gently rubbed her head under his chin. He rubbed her back. He looked down at his odd son. The smaller one hunkered down, closing his eyes. He felt something rub him softly. He opened his eyes. His father was nuzzling him, showing his acceptance.

"Et tu, daddy bunny?" Chaos said, shaking his head. Harmony's face formed a wide smile. She glowed bright yellow again.

Chaos was suddenly tackled with a big tight hug. "Oooow, their just so cute!" she squealed, spinning them around. "And look at that harmony!" she said, pointing at the Viewer while squishing Chaos with her other stub. "He's so different, but they accepted him as their son anyway," she continued happily, squeezing him again. He looked up at her with his eyes, still smooshed against her. He frowned and pushed her off of him.

"Okay. Enough. Enough with the hugging," he said, swatting his stubs at her. Her smile dropped a little. Her stubs held up against her chest. "Enough with all the love and affection and harmony," he droned on. "Do you want me to throw up?" he asked seriously.

"Um, no," she said unsure. He shivered. He wiped himself, trying to wipe away the affection.

Harmony suddenly gasped excitedly, "We have to watch one last thing first." His eyes darted to her, his stubs in mid-wipe. She brought her stubs up. They glowed as the Viewer zoomed out. "Do you think you can handle one last bit of harmony?" she asked, moving them north slightly. His eyes popped.

"No no no no no!" he said quickly, shaking his stubs around. "No more harmony! You already watch two scenes of harmony, and you skipped the best part of my chaos. It's my turn!" he complained.

"But I'm already here," she said, pointing at the Viewers. On the large screen were the colorful ponies.

"Not the ponies again," he whined.

"Don't you want to see how your 'improvements' are working?" she asked, already watching the screen.

He crossed his stubs and said, "Not after what just happened with my last improvements." "They're probably all sunshine and rainbows by now. The magic ponies probably gave them all wings and horns so they could all be equal. Now they're all doing magic and flying together in harmony," he spat. She was too focused on the ponies to hear him. He sighed. "I guess I can at least watch and hope. With every pony having magic and wings, it might be chaotic," he said defeated, sitting next to her.

The winged mares and stallions had already begun to fly. Some were better than other. Even a few of the fillies and colts had gotten off the ground. Oddly enough, the foals were buzzing around easily. Some were flying better than the adults. Their tiny bodies were full of energy.

The horned foals were similar to the winged ones in that they were doing some magic that even their parents couldn't do yet. The adults had learned how to levitate small things. Most had not learned much else yet. It took time to master magic.

A light blue winged filly with a short messy gray, black, and light grayish-blue striped mane crashed landed and rolled into a horned mare. The purple mare smiled kindly down at the little filly. She careful lit her horn that protruded from her long, straight orange-stripped red mane and lifted her to her hooves. The filly gasped, wide eyed. "There you go," she said happily.

"What do you think you are doing?" asked an angry large black stallion. He had a short, spiked dark blue mane.

Surprised, she said, "Oh, sorry. I was just helping your daughter get back on her hooves." She smiled up at him.

"She can do that on her own. She's not helpless," he bellowed. He motioned for the filly to come to him. She quickly ran to him and stood up tall by his side.

"I didn't mean…" she tried to explain, her smile gone.

"Just leave me and my family out of your freaky magic," he spat and marched away. His daughter quickly followed by his side. The purple mare just blinked.

"Ow ow ow! It looks like your precious ponies of harmony aren't so harmonious after all," Chaos laughed. Harmony looked worried. She watched the mare shake her head. Then she walked back to her family with a smile.

"They just need more time to adjust," Harmony said with determination.

They watched for a few more hours. Things with the ponies did not improve.

"Attention all winged ponies," thundered the black stallion from a low cloud, "It is clear to me that these horned ponies are a hazard to all of us and to our children." The other winged ponies nodded and chattered in agreement. "Ponies of the ground," he continued. All the ponies looked around, unsure of whom he was addressing. His daughter fluttered up to his ear and whispered quickly before falling back down onto the cloud. He shook his head. "Those ponies who lack wings and horns, earth ponies, listen up," he announced. The earth ponies looked up at him. "You shall join us." They looked at each other and mumbled. "We will force these-" his daughter whispered in his ear again "-horned unicorns to leave our land. If they refuse to go quietly, we will brutally force them out." The unicorns gasped. The earth ponies looked around, whispering to each other.

"We agree that these so called unicorns and their magic are dangerous and weird," said a pink earth mare with a light brown puffy mane. "But you winged ponies are no different," she accused. The large stallion glared down at her. "Your wings are just unnatural. Ponies are meant to stay on the ground," she said, stomping one hoof on the earth.

"We are pegasi, and our wings make us awesome!" shouted the large pegasus's daughter, spreading her wings and striking a pose to prove her point. Her father glared down at her. She quickly stood straight up beside him again. Then he nodded in agreement.

"Your wings make you weird!" argued the pink earth mare's pink daughter. Her mane matched her mom's, but it was darker and swirled on top of her head.

"Nuh uh! You're just jealous," the blue filly argued back. She quickly backed up and ran forward. Jumping off the cloud, she flapped her wings and stayed airborne for a few seconds. She grinned. Then she started falling. She flapped her wings hard, but still crash landed in front of the pink filly. The earth filly giggled. The blue filly quickly stood up and glared at her.

"Why would she possibly be jealous of that?" said a light gray unicorn filly.

"I just need more practice!" said the blue filly. "Then I'll be as awesome as my dad." She looked back up at him. He was arguing with the adults from his spot on the cloud.

"If there is anypony you should be jealous of, it's me," the gray unicorn said, throwing her long, curled purple mane back.

"Oh yeah, I'm sooo jealous," the blue filly said sarcastically, "I wish I could pick things up." The pink filly giggled. "Oh that's right I can! I have hooves!" she shouted, shoving her hooves in her face.

The gray unicorn scoffed. "I'm sure we can do more than levitate objects with our magic. We just need to practice!" the gray unicorn filly shouted her words back at her.

"Well we earth ponies don't need to practice," the pink filly bragged.

"Yeah, you are already as lame as you're going to get," the blue filly insulted.

"Hay!" the pink filly yelled. The gray filly covered her mouth and giggled.

She was suddenly levitated off the ground. She was placed in front of her father, a large silver unicorn stallion with a short, kept light blue mane.

"Come daughter, we are leaving," he said.

"Oh yeah! I guess my dad kicked your flanks out of here," the blue filly cheered.

"We are leaving," her bellowing father's voice said from behind her.

Quickly turning around she said, "But dad…" He glared down at her. "Yes, sir," she sighed with a salute. They marched away, meeting up with the filly's blue mother. Her mane was short and matched the light grayish-blue color on her daughter's striped mane.

Further up, a timid yellow filly was hiding in a bush. Her longer light blue tail could be seen sticking out of the bush. She was too scared to go, even with her mother's kind words of encouragement.

"Please come out, my little flower," begged the light yellow green-maned mare. The scared filly did not respond.

"You get out here this instance!" yelled her father. He was yellow as well, and his mane was short and light blue.

"Eeep!" his daughter squeaked from inside the bush, pulling her tail inside.

"You're scaring her," her mother reprimanded.

"Well that black stallion, Thunder Cloud, is really going to scare her if she doesn't come on," he argued.

"Please come out. You're uncle, aunt, and cousins are waiting," her mother tried again. The filly peaked outside of the bush. Waiting a little ways away was a family of seven pegasi. They all were a variety of orange colors, except for one foal. She was a brown color, and her mane was light brown. She looked similar to her father, who had a tan colored mane. Her twin brother resembled their mother. They both had light green manes, but his was lighter. They had a set of older twin siblings. The mare resembled her mom, except her mane was greenish-yellow. Her twin brother looked like his dad, but his mane was a little lighter. The middle child was a filly with a cream and light brown striped mane. Her tailed matched, and they were both short and shaggy. Her eyes were light green. Besides her baby brother and sister, she seemed to be the only pony with patients. She was about the same age as her cousin, who was currently hiding in the bush. She trotted up to the shrub and stuck her head inside.

"Pansy, it's okay. We have to go," she encouraged.

"I know, Honey. But I'm scared," Pansy said quietly.

"What are you scared of?" Honey asked, stepping into the bush. "We are all going together. We'll be safe with our parents."

"But what if those unicorns attack us with their magic? Or those earth ponies could attack us. They look so strong. They're both just so scary," she said, covering her face in fright.

Honey pulled Pansy's hoof away from her face and said kindly, "They aren't scary. They're just different." She smiled at her. A smile started forming on Pansy's face. It quickly fell when something jumped into the bush with them.

"What's the hold up?! Get your flanks moving!" Thunder's daughter yelled. Pansy squealed and raced out of the bush. She quickly hid behind her mom.

"Hay! That wasn't nice," Honey yelled at the blue filly.

"I wasn't trying to be nice. I was trying to get her moving," she argued, marching out of the bush. Honey followed. "And it worked," she said pointing at the terrified filly. Honey glared at her. "Now let's move out!" she ordered. She quickly ran to the front of the group by her parents. The black stallion led them westward.

Far in the other direction, the silver unicorn was leading his group eastward towards a small mountain.

"I don't understand why we have to leave. The other ponies don't seem that bad to me," a purple filly with a puffy green-striped mane said to her parents.

Her father, who was also purple with a solid green mane, but of different shades, said, "That Thunder Cloud was pretty rude to your mother when she tried to help his daughter, Hurricane."

"It was just a misunderstanding," his wife insisted.

"Well, he didn't have to call our gift freaky," he argued.

The purple filly looked forward. She spotted the leading unicorn's daughter walking ahead of her in the group. She quickly ran up to her.

"Hi, I'm Clover," she introduced herself.

The light gray filly gave her a look. "Charmed. My name in Platinum," she said, walking closer to her parents. Her father continued looking forward towards their destination. Her mother glanced back at her and the purple filly. She was light gray, almost white. Her curly mane was a pale purple color. She made a distasteful sound and turned her head forward again.

"I just wanted to ask you if you could talk to your dad. Maybe if he talked to Thunder Cloud and Pink Fudge again, he could convince them to let us all stay together."

Platinum scoffed, "My father is not interested in living with those rude ruffians."

"Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding. I'm sure they're not as bad as they seem," Clover insisted with hope.

"Young filly, Silver Sapphire is no longer concerned with those ponies. We agreed to leave. Our time with them is done," Platinum's mother said, stopping in front of Clover. "Now, return to your parents and leave my daughter alone," she said, pulling her filly with her. Clover stood sadly watching them walk away. Her parents caught up to her and gestured for her to follow.

Back in the field where all the ponies had started, the pink earth mare, Pink Fudge, declared they would stay put, now that the weird ponies had left. Her pink daughter asked her dad if she could walk around and meet some new ponies. He was a purple-pink color with a light brown poofy short mane. He said she could, but she was not allowed to go too far. She happily bounced off, introducing herself to each and every earth pony she found.

She spotted a light brown filly with a short, round yellow mane. She had dark freckles on her checks. She smiled widely and bounced over to her. Her parents were talking about something boring. The pink filly was not interested in them. Her father looked like her, but his mane was stringier. Her mother was orange with a straight brown mane.

"Hi! I'm Pudding Head. But you can call me Pudding for short," the pink filly said happily.

"Um, hi. Ah'm Smart Cookie, or Cookie for short," the brown filly said.

"Oooo! I like that name," Pudding cheered.

"Um, thanks," Cookie said, unsure about the hyper filly. She looked the bouncing filly over. "Aren't ya that Pink Fudge's daughter?" Cookie asked.

"Yep. That's my mom, and my dad is Purple Caramel. I don't know why his name is Purple. He looks more pink to me," she rambled. "He said I could go say hi to all the ponies. I love meeting new ponies! And I love saying, 'Hi!' I said hi to you, so now I have to go say hi to some other pony. So bye!" she said quickly, bouncing away. Cookie looked dumfounded for a second. She shook her head and quickly ran up to the pink filly.

"Wait!" Cookie said, running in front of her. Pudding stopped in mid-bounce. Then fell to the ground. "Y'all said ya were Pink Fudge's daughter, right?" Cookie asked.

"Yep. And I also said that Purple Caramel was my dad and umum…" Cookie quickly covered Pudding's mouth.

"Okay, ah got it. Y'all don't have to ramble on," Cookie said, rolling her eyes. She put her hoof down and continued, "I want to asked ya why your pa made those other ponies leave."

Pudding frowned. "Because those ponies were meanies," she said, crossing her forelegs over her chest.

"Just because they seem a little unkind, don't mean your pa should have kicked them out," Cookie argued.

"That blue pegasus called us earth ponies lame because we don't have wings, and the unicorn laughed at me," she said with a pout. "Beside, my dad didn't make them leave, they left on their own," she said. She turned away. "I'm going to go talk to some other ponies now," Pudding said angrily as she stood up. Cookie just sat there, watching her walk away.

Harmony sighed sadly. Her little ponies filled with so much harmony, were all fighting and separating. They were supposed to be her best creatures. She hoped they would one day lead the other creatures and show them true harmony. But now it looked as though they would be leading them in disharmony. She looked at Chaos. He was grinning with glee, rubbing his stubs together. Her eyes hardened. This was his fault. He changed them. If they all looked the same, they would all group together.

"This is your fault," she accused angrily.

"I know," he said cheerfully.

"These are my creatures. They are not supposed to be fighting!" she said furiously.

"Sheesh, calm down. At least the ponies of the same kind are getting along," he said with annoyance.

"But they are all supposed to be getting along together," she said desperately. "If you hadn't changed them, they would be," she said, pointing in his face. "They were supposed to be the best of the best at harmony," she said sadly, dropping her stub.

He raised an eye ridge at her. "You're moody. I think you need a nap," he simply said.

She gave him a look and said, "I do not need a nap. I'm just distraught and frustrated that my best creations have failed."

"By failed you mean…" he said, gesturing with his stub for her to explain.

"They are disharmonious," she said sadly, dropping her head.

"They are not disharmonious," he stated. She looked up at him. "If they were, they would **all** be fighting. They would not have formed groups or joined sides while they were arguing. They would have all fought with each other, and none of them would even be thinking that they should stay together. Heck, they would probably still be fighting now," he said.

A smile began forming on her face, and she said, "Really?"

"Well, duh. They probably would have even killed each other," he went on.

"Okay, okay. I get the picture," she said quickly, motioning for him to stop. She looked back at the Viewer and smiled. "Thank you," she said to him.

"What?" he asked, with displeased surprise.

"I said thank you," she repeated. "You gave me hope that these ponies can have harmony. They are more sophisticated than the bunnies. They just need more time to figure things out," she said, smiling down at the planet.

"Woah. I was not trying to make you feel better," he said defensively with his stubs out in front of him. "I was just correcting you."

"I know," she said with a smile, making the Viewer disappear.

"I don't think you do," he continued, sounding a bit uneasy. "I don't care if you feel bad or not. In fact, I enjoy your pain and suffering," he said with forced evil glee.

"Chaos," she said.

"It's true!" he said squeaked.

"Chaos," she repeated.

"Why don't you believe me?" he said desperately.

"Chaos," she said with some annoyance.

"I'm evil! I care for no one but myself!" he insisted. He cackled, expanding his black glow and raising his stubs into the air.

"Chaos!" she yelled.

"What?" he quickly said.

"I believe you. You are evil and uncaring, okay? I just wanted to tell you it's time to raise the moon," she said, pointing at the low sun.

"Oh."

"Now who's moody?" she mocked. He gave her a look.

She helped the sun set as he raised the moon. The ponies were amazed as they watched the sun disappear and a new glowing orb appear. Chaos made each star appear with boredom. The ponies looked up in awe as each little light appeared one by one. The unicorns thought it was some form of magic. Some hoped to one day master it. The pegasi and earth ponies looked suspiciously in the unicorn's direction.

All the ponies found shelter. They would rest for the night and start building their new lives when they woke. Hopefully the sun would returned soon.

Chaos sighed, "I didn't think Control would make us do this after we brought life to an entire planet on our own."

"Our creatures do need light," Harmony reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. But why can't they do it themselves," he said with boredom. Harmony looked at him as if he were crazy. He raised one eye ridge at her. "What? You keep bragging about how sophisticated and smart your ponies are, and I did give them magic-conducting horns," he said, lighting up more of the stars.

"You didn't give them that much magic. They don't have nearly as much power as we do," she pointed out.

"Well, maybe if they worked together," he argued, finishing the stars. She gave him a thoughtful looked.

She said with a smile, "Maybe."

 **Author's Note:** **Next chapter finally up! Sorry it took so long. I had a lot of OCs to create and a lot of ponies to design. Plus, this chapter was a lot longer than I intended too. I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment.**


	3. Chapter 3: Mysterious Night Lights

"Pst…," a little voice broke the silence of the moonlit night. "Pssst…," the yellow creature whispered again. The short grass rustled in front of her. Startled by the movement, she cowered back with a quiet yelp. The sleeping orange creature in front of her stirred again. She shivered and covered her light green eyes in fight. The orange creature moved around, finally turning over.

"Pansy?" a groggy voice spoke.

"H-H-Hon-n-ney," Pansy managed, uncovering her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Honey asked with more concern, rubbing her tired eyes.

"I-I'm sc-scared," Pansy answered, shaking with fear.

Honey stood up and stepped the short distance to the freighted yellow filly. She lied down beside her and put her orange wing over her. Pansy gratefully leaned into the embrace, still shaking.

"What are you afraid of?" Honey asked gently.

"The dark," she squeaked.

"It's not all dark. We still have light," Honey said, lifting her wing and pointing with her hoof at the moon and stars. Pansy uncovered her eyes and glanced up.

"Bu-but it's st-still dark," she said, hiding her eyes again. Honey looked down hopelessly at her cousin. What could she do to make her not afraid? She was shaking with freight, hiding under her wing. Then a smile formed on the orange filly's face.

"Maybe it wouldn't be so dark if you uncovered your eyes, silly," Honey laughed while moving Pansy's hooves away from her eyes.

Pansy's eyes cracked open. She looked up at Honey. A little smile found its way onto her face. She hugged her cousin around the neck. Honey smiled. Her eyes looked up at the tree above them. She could see the various yellow and orange limbs and green, tan, and blue tails of her sleeping family members hanging from the branches. She looked back at Pansy.

"Do you want to get up in the tree with the rest of our family now?" Honey asked, still being hugged. Pansy didn't answer. She was still nervous about falling.

Earlier that night, the pegasi had decided that staying up off the ground was the safest place to sleep. Hurricane and her parents slept on a cloud above the trees, so Thunder Cloud would be the first to see any possible incoming danger. Then he could warn the others. Pansy's and Honey's family slept in the trees with the rest of the pegasi. Pansy was not a good flyer at all. She was afraid she would fall out of the tree and wouldn't be able to land safely. Pansy's mother would have stayed with her on the ground below, but her father had insisted that they shouldn't baby her. She needed to learn to be tough like the other pegasi. If she wanted to sleep with them, she would have to get into the tree. Her mother had reluctantly agreed. It was for her own good. Once everypony had fallen asleep, Honey had quietly slid out of the tree and went to sleep on the ground near her cousin.

"Pansy, we'll be safer up there with our family," Honey insisted after a moment. Pansy looked up at the tall, daunting tree. Her eyes widened. She began shaking again. "Don't worry. I have an idea," Honey said with a smile.

The next thing Pansy knew, she was being pulled up the tree by a vine that was tired around her waist. She had her eyes covered as she was gradually hauled up towards the tree branches. Honey was up in the tree pulling the other end of the vine. She strained and grunted. Finally, she dragged her cousin onto the branch the vine had been lying over. Honey carefully hopped to the branch and tied the vine around the trunk of the tree. She smiled at a job well done. She tapped Pansy's back. She slowly uncovered her eyes. She looked to where Honey was now pointing. She turned her head at the vine.

Pulling on the vine attached to the tree, Honey whispered, "See. Now if you fall, the vine will catch you. Then I can pull you back up." Pansy studied the vine for a moment longer. She looked up at Honey and smiled. Honey was surprised by a sudden tight hug.

"Thank you, Honey," she whispered thankfully, hugging her cousin.

"You're welcome, Pansy," Honey replied with a soft smile.

After a short moment, their embraced ended. Exhausted, Honey got comfortable on the branch. She yawned and laid her head on her forelegs.

"Why do you think the other light left?" Pansy asked quietly.

"Hum?" Honey asked tiredly, slowly raising her head. Her eyes were unwilling to open.

"Do you think it will come back?" Pansy asked, looking up through the branches at the night sky.

"I don't know," she replied with a slight groan, laying her head back down.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You're probably tired," Pansy quickly apologized.

She laid her head down, not shutting her eyes. After a few silent moments, Honey's eye cracked open. She looked at her remorseful and slightly scared cousin. Then she glanced up at the sky. She groaned to herself. Guilt and curiosity getting the best of her, she lifted her head. "It's okay Pansy. We can… _yawn_ …talk if you want to," Honey said with a yawn. Pansy raised her head. "I'm curious too," she said, rubbing her eyes. Pansy smiled. Together, they looked up in wonder.

"Why do you think these new lights are here? I wish the big bright light was back. These new lights aren't bright enough. There could be scary, mean creatures hiding in the dark," Pansy said, looking down into the dark forest. Honey moved over next to her.

"I'm sure it'll come back," Honey said with hope. "Maybe the other light went away so we could sleep. It would be kind of hard to fall sleep with that giant bright light, wouldn't it?" she joked, trying to put her cousin at ease.

"I guess it would," Pansy said with a yawn. She rested her head on Honey's back. Honey laid her head down as well.

"I think these other lights are prettier anyway. The other light is too bright to look at," Honey yawned.

"Yeah," Pansy said tiredly. They closed their eyes and finally joined their family in a peaceful slumber.

On a small cloud above them, a blue filly was looking down at them. Then she looked up to the sky in thought.

"Huh," Hurricane said. "Why are these lights here?" she asked herself. She looked at her dad and then over towards the small mountain where the unicorns had went. She squinted her sliver eyes at a dim light in the distance. It lit up a cave at the bottom of the mountain. She shook her head. Her eyes hardened.

"My dad's right. This is just the unicorns' doing. Trying to get us to beg them to bring the other light back and admit that they are better than us," Hurricane whispered. She looked at her sleeping father. "Not that they are better than us," she added quickly. "We are totally the best. I mean, just look at these awesome wings!" she said a little too loudly.

"Hurricane, who are you talking to?" said her tired mother. Her eyes still closed.

The filly gasped. "Um…no pony," she quickly said.

"Then go back to sleep," her father ordered quietly.

"Yes, sir," she said with a quick salute. She swiftly lied down, closing her eyes.

"I might have to have a talk with those unicorns when we awake up," he added, laying his head down. His wife made a noise in agreement.

In the dimly lit cave, a purple unicorn filly was rambling on eagerly. The other exhausted unicorns were not happy.

"Where do you think it came from? How did it get there? What made the other one go? Maybe it's magic. Do you think we could learn to control one day?" Clover asked her parents with excited curiosity. The other unicorns groaned.

"Sweetie, maybe you should go to sleep now," her mother encouraged.

"Your mother's right. We can talk about this more when we wake up," her dad said. The unicorns sighed in relief.

"But it's just so fascinating! Didn't you notice how it gradually got darker?" Clover said, walking to the cave's edge. "And then all these other lights came out," she continued, pointing up at the stars and moon. "They seemed to come from nowhere," she said with awe. Her parents smiled at their inquisitive daughter. The unicorns groaned again.

The purple mare walked to her daughter's side and said, "I know it's all very interesting. And I know you are very curious about it. And I'm glad you want answers. But right now, we need to sleep." She patted her green mane. Clover's ears went down. They walked back towards the group.

"But why…" Clover began again.

"Clover, was it?" Platinum asked quietly from her spot by the fire.

"Yes," she said as they reached the group.

"I would like to say that the lights are marvelous. They really are beautiful. And I enjoyed admiring them on our walk here," she said with a smile. Clover smiled back. "But that is all. So would you kindly **go to sleep**?!" the gray filly whispered harshly. The other unicorns mumbled angrily in agreement. Clover hunkered down and joined her parents.

"Learn to control your filly," Platinum's mother whispered bitterly to Clover's mom. Clover lowered her ears and ducked her head. Her mom patted her head and smiled kindly. Her dad gave Platinum's mom a mean looked. Silver Sapphire raised his head and gave him a nasty look in return. The smaller stallion quickly turned his head away.

"Everypony go to sleep," Silver decreed. Everypony lied back down. Some sighed in relief. Finally they could sleep. Clover sighed as well, but for an entirely different reason. Her green eyes looked back at the cave entrance. Her mother patted her head. They smiled at the night sky, but soon the exhaustion from the walk caught up to the curious filly.

Back in the field, a couple of earth fillies still had not found rest. It was mostly because one of them was just too excited about the new thing in the sky.

"Maybe it's a giant cookie," Puddinghead whispered excitedly to Smart Cookie.

"It ain't no cookie," Cookie whispered back.

They were lying down in the grass near Cookie's parents. Cookie was about asleep when Pudding had wondered over to them after her own parents went to sleep. She had said her parents wouldn't mind because she could still see them. Apparently, the pink filly was no longer mad at Cookie for what she had said earlier. Or she was just too interested in the giant thing in the sky to care.

"But it looks like a cookie," Pudding insisted.

"How would ah cookie get up in the sky like that?" Cookie argued.

"I don't know. How does anything get into the sky?" the pink filly disputed.

"Uh, with wings," she stated.

"It doesn't have wings," she said, pointing at the moon.

"Ah didn't say **it** had wings," the brown filly explained.

"I could see its wings, if it had them. They'd be **huge** ," she said, spreading her hooves out for emphasis. "It would be dumb if it had wings, like those meanie pegasususes." She crossed her forelegs over her chest.

"Birds have wings too, ya know," Cookie pointed out.

"I think it was those stuck-up unicorns," Pudding said, ignoring her. "My mom said they took away the light using their stupid magic."

"Why would they do that?" Cookie asked.

"So they could put a giant cookie in the sky to torture us!" she quietly yelled. Cookie gave her a weird look. "I bet they are working with the pegusususes. So they can fly up to the giant cookie and take a bite. That way we'll be even more tortured, forced to watch them eat the cookie. And they won't share any of it, not one single nibble!" she continued in an angry whisper. Cookie just held her expression, unsure of how to respond. Pudding took heavy, angry breaths. After a moment, Cookie shook her head.

"Ah don't think they are tryin' to torture us. They probably don't have nothin' to do with it. It's just ah light in the sky so we can see. That's all," Cookie stated.

"How do you know?" Pudding asked with accusation. Cookie rubbed her chin.

Then she simply answered, "Cookies don't glow."

Pudding didn't know what to say. The brown filly was a cookie after all. Well, her name was Cookie anyway. Actually, her name was Smart Cookie. How could she argue with a smart cookie about a cookie? Cookie laid her head down with a satisfied grin, closing her eyes. Pudding made a face and looked up at the moon. She looked back at Cookie and then back at the moon. After a moment, she walked back to her parents. She watched the moon during the entire short walk. Once she reached her family, she lied down. She gave the mysterious orb one last look before closing her eyes.

"Why are those ponies so interested in that boring moon and stars? And why do they want _Harmony's_ sun back so soon? The night is fun. That's when all the good creatures come out," Chaos said, rubbing his stubs together. He was watching the ponies through the Viewer again. Harmony had gone to rest, so her power could build up faster. "At least they are still arguing," he said to himself.

"Why are you not resting?" Harmony suddenly nagged.

"Ah! What?!" Chaos screamed. He spun around quickly. His eyes were wide, and his breathing was rapid. He held his chest with one stub. His other was bracing him against the holographic screen. "Harmony! Don't do that!" he yelled.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Harmony apologized. He breathed out, putting his stubs down. Then he gave her a look.

"You didn't scare me. You surprised me," he corrected. She rolled her eyes. "I thought you were resting," he accused.

"I was, but then I noticed that you weren't," Harmony defended. "Control wants us both to rest. We used a lot of power making those creatures today. He wants our energy to be at least at half capacity tomorrow," she reminded him.

"Why? It's not like we'll need it to just watch the creatures," he said with distaste.

"It doesn't matter why. He told us to, so we will," Harmony insisted.

"Well, I don't care what he says," he said. She gasped. "I'm not missing the first night of my creatures. I designed most of the scariest ones to come out after dark," he said with an evil smile. Harmony looked shocked and appalled. Her eyes roamed up to the Viewer. She saw the earth ponies sleeping on the screen. Her expression turned to a grin.

"Your creatures?" Harmony asked. He looked back at the screen. "You're watching the ponies again," she teased. His eyes widen slightly, but he quickly recovered.

"The Viewer was still set to tract the ponies. I just got the Viewer back out," he defended coolly. She gave him a suspicious look.

"Are you saying you didn't watch them?" she asked.

"No. I just watched them long enough to see how they reacted to the night. The pegasus ponies are getting close to my forest. One of my creatures could have come out and ate them. I definitely would love to see one of my chaos creatures eat one of your _precious_ ponies," Chaos explained, ending with a grin.

"Did they?" Harmony gasped.

"Nooo," he sighed. She sighed with relief. "Most of the ponies are just sleeping. Some fillies were arguing about the moon, stars, and sun though," he said with disinterest.

"Really?" Harmony asked. "They really are intelligent. They're wondering about things larger than themselves," she said excitedly.

"Yeah well, they are all asleep now," he said. "So now I'm going to watch some true chaos. It's time for my night creatures to emerge from the creepy darkness," he said, holding his stubs up in a scary fashion. He turned around towards the screen and slowly moved them towards his forest.

"You need to rest," she told him.

"I don't have to listen to you," he said. He stuck his tongue out in concentration.

"You have to listen to Control," she warned.

"Control is not here," he said. He smiled as he found his forest. "And I know you will not disturb him this late," he said with satisfaction, turning toward her again. She pursed her lips.

"Fine. But he'll know you didn't rest when he sees how little power you have in the morning," she said, crossing her stubs and turning away. He glanced at himself. His pink color was the only real color he had. Just from the little rest she had, Harmony already had not only her purple stripe, but most of her blue stripe as well. He waved a stub at her dismissively and turned back to the Viewer. She narrowed her eyes. Then she disappeared.

"It'll be fine," Chaos assured himself and happily watched the screen as a large, black feline-like creature attacked its helpless prey.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Finally got this chapter up!**

 **This chapter was not planned, but I thought it was important to include a chapter of what the ponies think of the night time. You know considering the controversy about the night with Nightmare Moon. Their first night seemed like a good place to put it. I felt like I kind of cut this part short at the end of chapter two, but I didn't want to make that chapter any longer.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to review!**

 **P.S. I also have this story on FimFiction. I sometimes make announcements on there using the blog. Also, I have been posting pictures on my Devianart page to go along with each chapter. So far I have a picture for chapter 1 and 2. I plan to make one for every chapter. Just FYI.**


	4. Chapter 4: Strange Marks

Low in the horizon, the moon was ready to end the first night of the renewed planet. The new creatures of the planet were fast asleep, unaware that a new day was about to begin. The dark creatures of the night were wearing down, exhausted from their busy first night. A certain other creature, or shall we say spirit, was finally getting tired from the exciting, long night as well. Seeing his creations settle down, boredom and exhaustion set in. With a big yawn and a tried stretch, Chaos finally put away the Viewer. He took at quick glance at his colored stripes. Only his pink color was present.

Waving a dismissive stub, he said, "I'll worry about in the morning." He yawned again. "I'm sure I'll be good by then." Rubbing his green, heavy eyes, he dematerialized to finally get some rest.

Suddenly, Chaos popped back into the Viewer "room." With widen eyes he looked at the low moon. It was in the proper position for him to finish lowering it. It was morning! Almost morning anyway. Harmony would be there soon to raise the sun. He couldn't care less what she thought, but she would surely tell Control. His was an opinion he cared about. He would be in **big** trouble when Control found out that he didn't rest at all! Harmony had like two colors when he saw her last night, and that was hours ago! She had to have at least three by now! What was he going to do?!

He looked around frantically as if a solution would just appear. Instead, he took notice of the moon again. And he still had to lower the moon! He slumped over. He was too tired for all this trouble. He fell to the ground. He felt too worn out to even float. Maybe if he just lied there everything would fix itself. His eyes grew heavier. His eyelids drooped.

"Chaos," a surprised voice said. Chaos's eyes flew open as he yelled in surprise. He quickly jumped up, breathing rapidly. "Why were you on the floor?" Harmony asked with her head tilted slightly.

"I…ah…" he said, at a loss for a good explanation.

"You didn't actually beat me here to lower the moon, did you?" Harmony asked.

"Ahh…yes! That's exactly it!" he said triumphantly. He continued coolly, "You were taking so long to get here, that I got bored. So I waited on the floor for you. It's about time you showed up." He crossed his studs and turned away, as if he were mad at her. She made a face at his offensive words. Then she just rolled her eyes at his characteristic antics. He grinned, eyeing her from his peripheral view. She had seemed to have bought it. But he forgot one important thing.

Harmony gasped, "What happened to your energy?!" His eyes widened. Then he cringed. He was busted! "Your power's as low as it was last night," she exclaimed. Her face suddenly froze in realization. He bit his lip. "You didn't rest at all last night, did you?" she asked with accusation. Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "That's why you were lying on the floor!" His eyes darted around out of her view as he quickly tired thinking of something. Harmony had her stubs where her hips would be, waiting for an answer this time.

Turning around and looking down at himself, he said in mock astonishment, "What happened to my power?!" Harmony wrinkled her face and turned her head slightly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I rested just like I was supposed to-" she rolled her eyes "-but my power did not recharge!" he cried.

"Oh really? Then why do I have so much power?" she asked, not convinced. She gestured to herself, showing him that there were over three colors restored on her.

"It's probably because you slept so late. My power must have drained while I was waiting for you!" he accused her.

"You expect me to believe that? I did not sleep late. It is precisely time to raise the sun," she said.

Her eyes suddenly widened as her brain realized what she just said. She quickly glanced at the planet. She gasped and grabbed Chaos's shoulder. "It's time to raise the sun!" she said in a panic while shaking him. Spinning him around so fast he almost got whiplash, she said, "Quick! Lower the moon!" She pushed him forward; he stumbled in the process. Then he made a face at her. She bit her lip. He sighed and raised his heavy stubs. They glowed dimly as he struggled with the large orb. Harmony chewed on the tips of her stubs. As soon as he was finished, she pushed him out of the way and began frantically raising the sun. Her stubs glowed brightly as the sun practically flew into the sky. He stumbled back. Then he just let himself fall over, too tired to bother to catch himself. Forcing one stub up, he lazily waved it, making the stars disappear. Once the sun was in place, she sighed with relief.

"That was close," she breathed. She noticed her counterpart was collapsed on the floor again. Before she could continue their argument, a bright green light flashed. It was Control. His usual blank face was bent into a slight frown. It was obvious to Harmony that he was not happy about something. She gulped. Chaos slowing lifted his head with a groan. Seeing his unhappy mentor, his exhaustion was expelled immediately. He quickly sprang up and flew behind Harmony. Then he carefully peeked out at Control.

"G-good morning, sir," she said with polite nervousness. He did not acknowledge her. He simply floated past them and over to the edge of the floor. Harmony slowly spun, following his movement. Chaos moved with her, as not to be seen by his displeased superior. Expression unchanged, Control peered down at the planet. "I-Is something wrong, sir?" she asked. Silent still, he observed the globe. Chewing her lip, she waited for him to speak. After a long, nerve-racking wait, he finally turned around. Chaos's head shot back behind his nervous barrier. Without a word, Control looked directly down at Harmony. He knew he did not need to speak; she would never try to get anything past him. To her at that moment, his green eyes felt as though they were drilling straight through her soul.

"I'm sorry, sir! I know I was a little late raising the sun! I was ready on time, but I got distracted! I'm so sorry," she blurted out.

"You know the importance of the timing of the sun," Control said evenly, "It has a cycle at which it must adhere at all times. It is your responsibility to make sure it does."

"I understand, sir," she said, lowering her head.

"Do I need to take that responsibility from you?" he asked stoically.

"No, sir," she said, looking down. Chaos covered his mouth trying to hold in his laughter. Harmony, the perfect goodie-goodie, was actually getting reprimanded by her oh-so admirable mentor. Head still down, she glared in his direction.

"The cycle of the moon is important as well," Control spoke aloud to the room. Chaos halted his laughter immediately. Harmony raised her head and looked at Control. His eyes were peering behind her. Turning her head to look at Chaos, she grinned. With big eyes and a pouting lip, he pleaded silently with his stubs. She just held her uncharacteristic, mischievous grin. He whimpered. Feeling sorry for him, despite her annoyance, she sighed. He smiled hopefully. She would never lie to her respectable mentor, but she could at least try to soften his blow on the pathetic, grayed-out spirit cowering behind her.

Turning back to Control, she said, "Sir, it is true that Chaos was late lowering the moon, but that was only because he was so tired." He slightly raised an eye ridge. Chaos elbowed her. Maybe she couldn't soften the blow after all. But perhaps she could at least warn Control, so he wouldn't be so surprised when he saw Chaos's state. That might help Chaos some.

"He was tired because he was too intrigued by his creations last night to rest," she explained.

"Harmony!" Chaos whispered harshly.

"I'm sorry. I'm doing the best I can. I can't lie," she whispered back defensively. Maybe she wasn't the best person for this job. To Control she said, "In short, sir, his energy is not at half capacity as you ordered. It is far from it." She floated to the side, revealing the surprised and almost gray spirit. His eyes widened as he frantically tried to cover himself with his stubs.

"Disharmony," Control said sternly, without raising his voice. Chaos gulped, not daring to correct the use of his real name. "Why have you disobeyed me in such a drastic manor?" Control asked, only looking down at him with his eyes.

"I…ah. Didn't Harmony already tell you that?" Chaos said carefully, glancing at her. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she was pulled into the conversation again.

"You cannot depend on Harmony to speak for you," Control said calmly. Chaos twiddled his stubs nervously, trying not to look at his mentor. "Now, answer the question," he said a little louder.

"Well," he began, his pitch high. He continued, "I just wanted to keep an eye on my night creatures. You did ask us to watch them, didn't you?" Control just stared down at him. Chaos looked down at his twiddling stubs, then back up at him. "They need to be watched too, don't they? My job is to do that, right?" Chaos asked nervously.

"You were told to rest and refuel your energy last night. Your job is to obey orders. Now, give a straight answer," Control demanded. Chaos looked down. He glanced at Harmony. She just looked at him sympathetically. She could not help him. Control told him to speak for himself. She smiled kindly and waved her stubs encouragingly for him to go on. She understood what it was like to admit wrongdoings to their unforgiving mentor. He looked back at Control.

"Really? You said that? I thought we were to watch the planet at all hours," Chaos lied, anxiously. She just wished he'd be honest and stop digging himself deeper into the hole he was burying himself in. Control looked at her.

"I reminded him last night that you wanted us to rest," she quickly said. Chaos glared at her. "Sorry," she apologized. She was as bad at keeping things from Control as Chaos was at admitting things to him. Control turned his glare back at the accused.

"Okay, I'll admit it. I disobeyed your direct order and did not recharge my power at all. I stayed up all night to watch my dark creature just to enjoy it," Chaos confessed. She smiled at his honesty. "But why shouldn't I have?" he asked angrily. Her smile dropped. "I worked hard to create those creatures. I had to watch Harmony's creatures all day. I almost threw up because of all the harmony and cuteness! I deserved the right to watch my best creatures last night!" Chaos defended furiously. Control's anger showed through more obviously. Harmony was even getting nervous. But Chaos ignored it; he was on a roll. "How could you deny me the right to watch my creations on the first night of their lives?! Harmony got to watch her creatures practically all day. She got to see them take their first steps, meet their families, and even learn how to fly. Most of mine are out at night. If I hadn't watched them, I would have missed their firsts!" Chaos yelled. Harmony started to feel for him. She didn't realize how important this was to him. What if she had missed the beauty of the bunnies accepting their odd antlered son? "I wouldn't have seen them catch and maul their first prey or see them chow down on its live body as it squirmed," Chaos continued, voice and eyes darkening as he grinned at the memory of it. Harmony cringed. That sounded terrible to her, but it was something he enjoyed. She still understood his side, as disgusted and upset as she was by what he just said.

"That's enough," Control said, voice raised slightly. They both looked up at him. Chaos pouted slightly, his vivid memory being interrupted. He continued, "Your excuses are not of concern. Regardless of your reason, you have disobeyed orders…"

"My reasons should concern you!" Chaos interrupted, "They are valid!" Harmony shrunk down and floated back. Chaos's face hardened. He floated up to Control's eye-level. He no longer cared what Control thought; he felt he was in the right. Control's eyes narrowed. " **Your orders** don't concern **me**! They were wrong!" Chaos spat. Harmony gasped. Chaos's black glow expanded. His eyes were darker green, black mist flowing from them. Control's eyes slanted slightly in anger. Chaos flew up to him, face to face. His sharp teeth showed as he growled. Harmony shut her eyes. Granted Control still didn't appear to be very angry, but she had never seen him this mad before. They always butted heads, but Chaos never stood up to him like this.

Chaos was suddenly throw back and pinned to the ground by a green light. Harmony opened one eye at the sound of his body crashing on the ground. Control's light expanded from his body like an appendage that held the stunned spirit down. Chaos's black glow shrank back down, and the mist is his eyes was gone. He looked up with now frightened eyes at Control as he towered over him. Control glared down at him. Chaos laughed nervously. Harmony covered her eyes.

"Your excuses are not valid. You were given an order. You will follow orders regardless if you feel they are unfair," Control said, voice raised slightly.

"But…" Chaos tired.

"Not that you need an explanation, but there are reasons for ever order you are given. Your power was severely diminished. Do you know what would happen if your power were drained completely?" he asked, with seriousness.

Chaos gulped, "Yes, sir."

"It was vital that the first moments of the creatures' lives were carefully monitored. Nothing significant had occurred by nightfall, so it was safe for you two to rest. I would have felt if anything paramount had happened last night. The rest you neglected was critical to give you the energy you needed to lower the moon. It was very dangerous to lower the moon without proper rest, Disharmony," he lectured.

Chaos made a face and asked, "If you can feel when something major happens, then why do we have to watch the planet at all?"

"Because that's the order you were given. They are your creatures and your responsibility. It is your job to make sure their chaos does not go out of control," Control said, pushing down on Chaos a little harder.

"Got it," Chaos struggled to say under Control's increased force.

"There will be no more back talk," Control said aloud, releasing Chaos and turning around to face the planet again. Chaos pushed himself up and quickly floated next to Harmony. She uncovered her eyes. "Harmony, your power is as it should be. It is at a safe level. You do not need to rest tonight if you do not wish. You can take an extra night's rest if you would like. Your power will slowly recharge even without it," Control addressed her with his usual calm manner while turning back around to face them.

"Thank you, sir," Harmony said, with a slight smile.

"Since most of the fault was not yours that the sun was late rising, you will not be punished. Do not let it happen again," he warned.

"I won't, sir," Harmony said.

"Disharmony," Control said, looking back at the once again droopy-eyed spirit who could barely stay afloat. He continued, ignoring his tired state, "You clearly are not responsible enough to make your own decisions. You are to stay by Harmony's side at all times and obey her until your power is fulling restored. Then I will determine if you are ready to make your own decisions again." Harmony's jaw dropped.

"What?!" Chaos exclaimed, exhaustion gone again.

"There will be no back talk," Control repeated, "You heard the punishment, Disharmony." Chaos opened his mouth to argue, but he decided it was best not to be smashed into the floor again. He closed his mouth with a pout and just glared at the floor. He continued, "Furthermore, unless Harmony wishes to rest tonight as well, you will stay up with her to watch over your creatures." Chaos looked up in shock. "After all, they are mostly your creatures and they are your responsibility," Control reminded him.

"But my power is so low. What if it all runs out?! You just said it was important to recharge," Chaos complained, unable to control himself.

"You have enough energy now," Control simply said. Chaos looked down at himself. His grayish orange color was halfway restored. He turned his head to the side. How did that happen? He didn't rest. In fact, he thought fighting with Control would have exhausted him more. "Your power will restore eventually. You will be fine as long as you do not exert yourself. If you are worried, then do not use any power except to raise and lower the moon and bring out the stars," Control suggested, turning back around.

"Excuse me, sir," Harmony said as politely as she could manage, "How long will it take for his power to restore without rest?" She felt as though she was being punished too. She had to look after her troublesome counterpart.

"You will have to wait and see. It depends on how much excess energy he uses," Control answered, looking back at them.

"I understand, sir," she said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Enough time has been wasted with all this nonsense," Control said as he pulled the Viewer out. "Begin your observation," he said evenly and faded out.

As soon as he was gone, Harmony let out a big sigh. "Come on, Chaos," she said, floating over to the large screen. She lifted her glowing stubs and began circling around the globe. She glanced back at Chaos. His head was down. "You didn't fall asleep, did you?" she half teased. She found the spot she was looking for and put her stubs down. "Chaos," she said, floating over to him.

"Huh?" he said raising his head, eyes still looking down.

"What are you looking at?" she said, looking down.

"Nothing," he said distracted, looking up and blinking his eyes.

"Okay. Can you come help me then, please?" Harmony asked. He floated past her over to the Viewer. "You must be really tired. You didn't even complain," Harmony pointed out, joining him. He was looking down again. She followed his eyes. They were focused on his half orange stripe. She turned her head and looked at his face. His expression was confused but focused. She shook her head and began zooming in with the Viewer.

"Have you ever restored your power without resting?" Chaos suddenly asked.

A little surprised by the sudden break of silence, she said, "I don't think so. Not more than a gradual increase like normal. But I do feel more energized when there's harmony around me. Harmony makes me feel good." She smiled and continued searching with the Viewer. He put his stub to his face, looking back down. Harmony energized Harmony. Maybe disharmony fueled him. His argument with Control was quite the display of chaos. He made a thoughtful sound. "Are you okay? You seem very distracted," Harmony asked, a bit concerned.

"Ah, yeah. I'm fine," he said with a grin.

"If you're sure…" Harmony said.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine," he said, rubbing his stubs together. She made a face at him. He quickly put his stubs down, grin dropping. Then he looked up at the Viewer. "Ponies?! Again?" he complained.

"They are very interesting, and I still believe they have a chance at harmony," Harmony defended. "Besides, you were the one watching them all by yourself last night," she said with a smile.

"Only because I wanted to see the winged ones get eaten. I told you they were getting close to my forest," he reminded her, crossing his stubs. "I don't want to watch them anymore," he said, raising his stubs. They glowed dimly.

"Chaos, no," Harmony said, pushing his stubs down. "You can't use any extra energy." He pulled his stubs away from her. "Besides, Control said I'm in charge. You have to do what I say, and I say we are going to watch the ponies," she said matter-of-factly.

"That's not fair!" he yelled.

"Yes it is. You disobeyed Control. Now you are being punished," Harmony said calmly.

"But I don't wanna be puiniiiished," he whined.

"Chaos, stop. You're acting like a baby," she told him.

"I'm not a babyyy," he whined again.

She sighed, "I'm not happy about this either. I don't want to be in charge of you. You are too difficult." Chaos yawned and rubbed his eyes, his tiredness catching up to him again. "Aww, you're just grumpy because you're tired," she cooed.

"I said I'm not a baby," he said with seriousness.

"Then take your punishment like a man and help me watch the ponies," she ordered.

He glared at her. But then he looked up at the Viewer anyway. "I'm only doing this because I'm too tired to fight. I need to conserve my energy; I don't want my punishment to last any longer than it has to," he said, crossing his stubs.

"Agreed," Harmony stated.

* * *

The earth ponies had just begun opening their rested eyes as the sun shined onto their faces. A pink earth filly cracked her brown eyes open. She blinked at the bright sunlight and rubbed her eyes. Sitting up with a yawn, she looked up to find the source of light.

She gasped loudly and exclaimed with joy bouncing at every sentence, "The light is back! The light is back! The light is back!" The ponies within earshot groaned as they were woken by the shrilling squeals of the bubbly filly. The filly's parents sat up to check on her.

"What did you say, Pudding?" her mom, Pink Fudge, asked groggily.

"I said, 'The light is back! The light is back! The light is back!'" she repeated excitedly, bouncing again. Fudge looked up, shielding her eyes.

"Look, Caramel," Fudge said, pointing up.

Squinting up, he said, "I see it, Fudge."

"I guess the unicorns decided they didn't want to tussle with us after all," Fudge said with a satisfied grin.

"It sure looks that way," Caramel agreed, smiling as well.

"My friend, Cookie, said she doesn't think the unicorns had anything to do with it. She said they are just lights that allow us to see," Pudding chimed.

"What? Of course it was the unicorns. They used their unnatural magic to do it," Fudge argued.

"I know. That's what I told her. I told her they took away this light-" she pointed up "-so they could put a cookie in the sky to torture us," Pudding continued.

"A cookie?" her mother asked, confused.

"That big thing that was in sky before we went to sleep," the pink filly explained.

"It did look like a cookie, didn't it?" her father mused, hoof on his chin. Fudge made a face at her husband.

"Yeah, but Cookie said it couldn't be a cookie because cookies don't glow," Pudding said, a little sadly. "And I couldn't argue with her because she **is** a cookie," she explained loudly.

"Pudding, were you…talking to a cookie?" Fudge asked concerned.

Pudding snorted and said, "No, of course I wasn't talking to a cookie. He he! Cookies don't talk, mom. Her name is Cookie, Smart Cookie actually. She's a filly, like me. Well, not exactly like me. She's sort of a light brown color. Her mane and tail are short and yellow. She has freckles on her checks." She smooshed her cheeks with her hooves to emphasize. Fudge looked around, searching for the filly that had put this garbage in her daughter's head. Spotting her, she scooped Pudding up and trotted over to the trouble-making filly. Caramel quickly jumped up and galloped after them.

Once they reached the brown filly, Fudge located an orange mare who was presumably Cookie's mother. "Is this your daughter?" Fudge bitterly asked the orange earth mare.

"Yes. Is there ah problem?" the mare asked, trying to stay mannerly.

"Yes. Your daughter has been talking nonsense to my daughter. She put it in her head that the unicorns had nothing to do with the light disappearing," she explained angrily.

Pudding jumped off her mom's back and bounced over to Cookie. "Hi, Cookie!" she greeted happily.

"Hi," Cookie replied, distracted by the argument that was unfolding above her.

"It's not nonsense. Ah don't believe the unicorns had anything to do with it either. Your daughter is the one talkin' nonsense. Cookie said she was babblin' on about ah cookie in the sky," Cookie's mom defended.

"What's goin' on, Citrus?" a brown stallion asked, ready to defend his wife. He had come over to make sure his family was okay.

"This crazy mare is accusin' our daughter of talkin' nonsense about the unicorns," Citrus answered, pointing at Fudge.

"Who are you calling crazy?!" Fudge asked angrily, getting up in her face.

"You, you puffy-maned lunatic!" Citrus shouted, pushing her away.

"Don't shove me!" Fudge yelled, pushing her back.

"Get your hooves off of her!" the brown stallion demanded, smacking her hoof down.

"Hay! Only I can touch her!" Caramel yelled, finally joining in. Everypony looked at him strangely. "Wait, I mean…"

"You're not helping!" Fudge yelled at him. "And who do you think you are?" she asked the brown stallion.

"Ah'm Cinnamon Straw, Citrus's husband. And ya'll better not lay a hoof on her again," he said with anger.

"She pushed me first!" Fudge defended her actions.

"That's because ya'll were all up in my face!" Citrus argued.

"Because you called me crazy!" Fudge disputed.

"Ya'll are the one who stormed over here and accused my daughter when she did nothin' wrong!" Citrus harshly reminded her.

"Um, ma," Cookie said, pulling on Citrus's foreleg.

"Not now, Cookie," she said, shaking her off.

"But, ma…" Cookie tried again.

"Cookie, please," Citrus said, getting annoyed.

"Everypony, be QUIET!" Pudding shouted. They all stopped arguing and looked at her in shock. "Cookie is trying to say something," she said in here usual happy tone.

"Ahh, thanks, Pudding," Cookie said unsure. The pink filly smiled in return. "Ah just wanted to say that Ah didn't want Pudding to get in trouble. Ah was just talkin' about what she said. Ah wasn't meanin' to tell on her," she continued. Her parents looked at her and then at each other. "Ah actually thought it was kind'a funny," she said, smiling at Pudding. "And Ah know she didn't mean any harm. She was just being herself. And Ah don't think there is anythin' wrong with that," she declared, stomping her hoof and staring up at the adults. Her parents' ears went down in shame.

"We're sorry, Cookie," Citrus said, "It's not like me to argue. Ah was just tryin' to defend you. Ah guess Ah got carried away." Cookie smiled up at her.

"Ahem. Excuse me. But she is still at fault," Fudge said, pointing an accusing hoof at Cookie.

"This fightin' is gettin' us nowhere," Citrus said calmly, "Cookie has done no more wrong than your daughter has. They both were just talkin' and sharin' their opinions. And they seem to be gettin' along just fine even though their opinions are different. Ah think we need to take a lesson from them." She smiled at her daughter.

"But her opinion is wrong. I don't want her corrupting Pudding's mind," Fudge argued.

"It's ain't nice to be blaming the unicorns for everythin' either. They didn't do anythin' but use the magic that they were born with," Cookie preached.

"That magic is unnatural!" Fudge argued.

"It seems sort of neat to me," Caramel mused. Fudge glared at him. He shut his mouth and quickly looked away.

"It ain't a matter of their magic that bothers me. They think they are better than us. They act like they should rule the world!" Cinnamon disputed.

"I'm sure they ain't all that way, Pa," Cookie said, putting her hoof on his.

"Platinum was!" Pudding argued.

"Okay, that's enough!" Fudge said loudly. Startled by the shout, they all turned their attention towards her. "Clearly, we all feel differently about the unicorns, and I don't believe we are going to come to an agreement anytime soon," she continued. She held her head high and circled around them. "That is why from now on all earth ponies will listen to me," she announced, "I have spoken for us before against the other odd ponies, and I had also declared that we stay here." She hopped up on a large rock and proclaimed loudly, "At this point, I am taking official charge over every earth pony here." The other earth ponies had gathered around, hearing all the commotion. They chattered among themselves about what the pink mare was saying. "From now on, you all will address me as Grand Chief Pink Fudge," she announced loudly. Everypony gasped. Their eyes looked towards her back-end. "I will take everyponies' opinions into consideration. All disputes will first go through my Chief, Purple Caramel," she said, gesturing at him. His mouth was agape. His eyes were locked on her glowing flank. "Then he will speak to me. All final decisions will be made by me," she stated, eyes closed and hoof on her chest.

Hearing no quarrel, she opened her brown eyes. All eyes were staring at her rear. She made a face in confusion. Then she followed their eyes with her own. She gasped, seeing her glowing flank. She quickly covered it with her puffy brown tail. Panicked, she backed up and fell off the rock. She tumbled to a stop in the dust. Everypony quickly surrounded her. Once the dust settled, they all could see the mark that the light had left behind. After shaking her head, the fallen mare quickly checked her flank. On it was what appeared to be a brown puffy hat with pink jewels. On top of the muffin-like hat was a pink block of fudge that had a bite taken out of one of its corners. She gasped and moved her tail over it again. Ears down, eyes wide, and breath rapid, she frantically glanced around at all the eyes on her.

"What is that?" one pony whispered.

"S-see! Look at what those unicorns have done now!" Fudge yelled, "They marked me!"

"F-F-Fudge," Caramel stuttered. "They marked me too!" he panicked. He swung his rear around and showed everypony his mark. It was a purple cube of caramel wearing a purple cape and a yellow hat similar to the one on Fudge's mark. The hat had light brown jewels and melted brown caramel on top.

"This is an outrage! We must do something now!" Fudge said, standing up and stomping one hoof. She marched in the direction of the mountain in which the unicorns had gone. Most of the others began to follow, either agreeing with her or being too afraid to say any different. Caramel looked back down at his mark. He carefully touched it. It did not burn or hurt him in any way. He hummed and rubbed his hoof over it. Then he smiled. Fudge noticed he wasn't following her and quickly stormed over to him. "What are you doing?" she asked angrily.

He looked up with a grin and said, "It feels…good."

"What?!" she asked, face wrinkled in irritation.

"It feels good," he repeated, "I like it. It just feels right, like it's supposed to be there." He smiled. She snarled at him. He shrunk back.

"Now the mark is poisoning his mind!" she shouted, pointing at him.

"Fudge," Caramel pipped up.

"That's Grand Chief Pink Fudge!" she yelled hysterically. Everypony backed up in surprise and fright. The self-proclaimed grand chief seemed to be losing her mind. Caramel carefully stepped forward nervously.

"I-I d-don't think it was the u-unicorns," he spoke fearfully. She glared at him with a growl. He quickly looked away. Not looking at her, he continued, "T-the mark h-has a hat and-and a cape that looks like what a chief might wear." He looked at her with only his eyes, his head still turned. "A-and you just said I was chief. And it has purple caramel like my name," he said with more confidence, turning his head towards her. She stalked closer to him. She was not pleased that he was standing up against her. She just declared that she was in charge, not him. He backed up, but spoke nonetheless, "Your mark looks like a grand chief's hat, and it has pink fudge on top." Her stalking ceased. "It shows how important you are," he concluded. Her expression turned serious. She hummed thoughtfully, rubbing her chin and looking at her mark with only her eyes. Then she turned on her heels and leaped on to the rock. Caramel sighed and wiped his forehead in relief.

"This mark is proof that I am to lead you. It shows all of you that I am your grand chief!" Fudge announced proudly, "And his mark proves he is your chief." He joined her beside her rock. She quickly thought of her first decree as grand chief while she had their attention. "As grand chief I declare that we need food. This half-" she pointed to the group that contained Citrus and her family "-will spread out and find food. The other half will begin building shelters for everypony, as well as a place for us worthy of our titles," she ordered. Everypony looked at each other, unsure if they should take orders from this unstable mare. "Get moving!" she demanded, stomping her hoof. Everypony quickly spread out, deciding they would rather stay on this crazy mare's good side. She smiled with triumph. Pudding looked up at her, unsure of how to feel about her mom's sudden power over everypony. She looked over to Cookie as she left with her parents to search for food. The brown filly looked back at her with the same uncertain expression.

* * *

Over in the mountain cave, the sunlight had just crept through the cave's mouth, waking up the sleeping unicorns. The green maned purple filly was the first to wake. During the night, she had slipped away to sit at the cave's entrance to get a better look at the moon. Seeing the sun had returned, she hopped up and trotted to her mom.

"Mom," Clover whispered, "It's back." She gently shook her. The mare slowly pushed herself up. She was suddenly pushed from behind. She looked back and saw her daughter excitedly trying to move her to the cave entrance. "Come on," Clover whispered impatiently. Her mother laughed. Once they reached the cave's mouth, Clover pointed up at the sun. "See! There is it," she said in amazement, "It's fascinating." Her mom giggled, ruffling her mane.

"What's got her so excited, Iris?" Clover's father asked.

"Oh just the lights again, Fescue," she answered with delight.

"She's such a curious little filly, isn't she?" he mused, smiling at his inquisitive daughter as she studied the sun.

"Yes, and I love that about her," she said with a gentle smile. She rested her head against his. He put his foreleg over her shoulders in return. Their daughter continued admiring the sun, shielding her green eyes.

"Ahem," a deep voice broke the peace. Parting, the couple turned to find the large silver unicorn staring at them. Iris swept up Clover underneath her, stepping out of the way. Silver Sapphire strolled between them and turned to face the waking unicorns. "It is time to continue our journey up the mountain," he announced. He turned back around and walked out into the still damp grass. Standing profile towards the cave, he waited for his family to join him.

Gasping quietly, Clover quickly whispered to Iris, "Mom, look." She pointed to the large unicorn. Iris pushed her impolite hoof down, but discreetly looked nonetheless. She quickly covered her mouth in astonishment. Subtly getting Fescue's attention, she silently motioned to the silver unicorn. Fescue turned his head. She made faces and pointed with her head harder. He looked over at the unicorn. He spotted what she had seen. Taken back, he turned back to Iris. She shrugged. Then she gestured for him to say something. He quickly shook his head no. The silver stallion was not fond of him already. He certainly didn't want to inform the much-larger-than-him unicorn that he had some strange abnormality on his rear. Iris gave him a look. He gave her an uneasy look back. Then he slowly turned to Silver Sapphire. His family had joined him. The others were just inside the cave next to Fescue, waiting for the proclaimed leader to lead the way. Fescue gulped and carefully stepped forward. He cleared his throat. But before he could speak, he was thankfully interrupted by a quiet gasp.

"Silver," the pale gray mare by his side whispered urgently, "Your flank. There's something on it." She turned her head slightly towards it. He glanced back and saw the offense. His eyes widened. He quickly hid it with his tail and composed himself. He turned and motioned for the unicorns to start walking. She gasped too loudly, "There's one on this side too." Everypony stopped and looked back at her.

"Ahem, everypony wait for us up ahead. Prepare yourselves for our journey," Silver Sapphire ordered as calmly as he could. Everypony did as he said. Fescue and his family remained in the cave entrance-way. Once he thought the ponies were all out of view, he quickly ran over to the nearby pond, which pooled below the mountain from the stream that ran down it and continued through the woods. He turned his rear towards the water and observed his flank. He gasped. Somepony as regal as he could not have such a blemish, especially in such an embarrassing place. He dipped his tidy blue tail into the water. He flung it out and began frantically scrubbing the imperfection. His wife quickly did the same to the other side. Platinum finally noticed the mark as her parents hysterically tried to remove it.

"Daddy! What is that?!" she shrieked.

"I don't know, princess. But I must remove it before the others see," Silver said desperately.

Iris and Fescue peeked outside of the cave at the mad pair. "Come on, let's go before he notices us," he whispered, carefully taking a step out of the cave.

"Maybe we should help," she suggested.

He twirled around to face her and said, "Iris Ruby, are you insane?! He obviously doesn't want anypony to see him, and he won't be too happy if we just trot right over there and ask…"

"Do you need help?" Clover politely asked, peering up at the tall stallion as he continued to thoroughly soak his rear. Surprised, he jumped back and splashed into the water, creating a large wave that soaked his family. Clover quickly shielded herself with a magic force field.

Fescue gasped and galloped to the scene. Iris quickly followed. "Clover!" he scolded, once he reached them.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Clover apologized. "Here, let me fix it," she said, lighting her horn. She stuck out her tongue, focusing. The wet unicorn floated up out of the water and was gently placed on the ground. Silver breathed heavily, fur and mane dripping wet and clinging to his body. Fescue cringed. The water was suddenly expelled from their three bodies and gently splashed back into the pond. He turned back. Iris's horn stopped glowing.

"My mane!" Platinum screeched. Her mane and that of her mother and farther were messy and pulled to one side by the force of the removed water.

"Sorry. I'll fix it," Clover said, lighting her horn.

"You've done enough," Silver said angrily.

"I thought I told you to control your filly," his wife said, glaring at Iris.

"She was just trying to help," Iris defended, holding Clover protectively against her legs.

"Enough. Fluorite, I can handle this," Silver said, addressing his wife.

"It's still there!" Platinum shrieked, pointing to his flank.

"How it that possible?" Silver asked, looking back at it with wide eyes.

"Maybe I can get it off with magic," Clover suggested. Lighting her horn, she lite up the mark and pulled.

"Ow!" Silver hollered, jumping back. This time he landed on solid ground instead of into the pond.

"Sorry," Clover said sheepishly. He rubbed his sore spot, as Fluorite quietly fixed his mane, her and her daughter's mane already done.

"Have you really looked at it?" Iris asked suddenly, head turned and face wrinkled. "It looks like some kind of design or image," she said, looking at it closely. He gave her an angry looked. Everypony followed Iris's lead. He raised his eye ridges and then looked at it as well. It looked like a blue jewel wearing a hat. He squinted his eyes at the hat. It had a white puffy bottom with blue arrowhead shapes on it. The top had several rounded, triangular, shiny, silver points with light blue circles on each. It wasn't just a hat; it was a crown. The mark was a blue sapphire jewel with a crown. He raised his head and hummed thoughtfully. He glanced back at it. Then he looked at his daughter. He rubbed his chin. Then he grinned.

"It is a mark of power!" he abruptly declared, startling everypony. "See how the jewel wears a crown?" he said, pointing to his mark, "It means that I am king. I am the Unicorn King!" He looked at Platinum and Fluorite. "And you are my queen and princess, princess," he announced. "Come, let us go heed this wondrous news to the others," he said, sauntering back towards the group, "They shall build a castle worthy of a king on top the high mountain where we all shall live." They all looked at each other. Then Fluorite humphed and stuck her nose up, joining her new king. Platinum looked back at the others. Then she did the same, following her mother. Clover, Fescue, and Iris exchanged astounded looks.

* * *

The pegasi had already woken up and began flying back down onto the forest ground. Thunder Cloud spread his impressive black wings as his daughter jumped on his back.

"Those unicorns must have been too afraid of us to keep their threat!" Hurricane said proudly, looking up at the sun.

"You won't have to have a talk with them after all, Thunder Cloud," her mother said, stepping beside him.

"It seems so, Navy Rain," he mused, looking up. He flew down into the forest, Navy Rain following on his tail.

"See, I told you it would come back," Honey said happily from the tree branch below while pointing up to the sky.

"I'm so glad it did," Pansy said quietly with a small smile.

"You need to stop being such a worry-ward," Honey laughed, untying the vine from the tree.

"I know," Pansy said, looking down. Honey looked at her with a kind smile. She finished freeing the vine and hoped onto her cousin's branch.

Dropping the vine from her mouth, she said kindly, "I was just joking, Pansy. I didn't mean anything by it." She put a hoof on her shoulder. Pansy smiled up at her.

"Let's keep moving," Thunder Cloud announced as he landed below the tree. Navy Rain landed next to him, closing her wings. Hurricane jumped down off his back, as the others followed her father deeper into the forest. She looked around and made sure all the ponies were up and walking. She looked up. What she saw almost made her split a gut.

"Ha ha! What…ha…are you two blockheads doing?! Ha ha ha!" Hurricane laughed, rolling on the ground. Honey was struggling on a branch with the vine in her mouth slowly lowering Pansy down on the other end to the ground. Pansy had her eyes covered and her tail between her legs. "You two look ridiculous! Ha ha!" the blue filly snickered.

"Ish ont unny!" Honey tried to say, vine held between her teeth.

"She's a pegasus! In case you haven't noticed, we have wings. We can fly!" Hurricane argued, spreading her own wings for emphasis. Honey glared at her. Finally getting her cousin safe to the ground, she jumped out of the tree. Spreading her wings, she quickly glided to the other filly. She made a rough, stumbling land and snorted in the blue filly's face. She stomped over to untie her cousin. "Impressive," Hurricane said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Honey ignored her and gently untied Pansy. She helped her up. Pansy smiled at her. They walked past the blue filly, making their way towards the leaving group. Honey didn't even look at her. Pansy stayed low and tried to hide behind her cousin. Hurricane suddenly landed in front of them. Pansy squeaked and jumped behind Honey. "Hay! I was talking to you," she said, "What's her problem?" She pointed at the shivering filly.

"Well, for one, you just scared her. As for the tree, she can't fly very well. I helped her down, so she wouldn't get hurt," Honey said, displeased at the ill-mannered filly.

"Oh come on. Seriously? Afraid to get hurt? We are pegasi! We're tough!" she said proudly. She jumped in front of Pansy, poking her with her hoof and said, "We are not afraid of anything! We especially aren't afraid to fall out a little tree!" Pansy curled up, hiding in her mane and tail. Honey quickly stepped between them defensively. "You can't learn to fly if you're afraid to fall! No pony can learn to fly without falling a few times," she said, getting in Honey's face.

"There's nothing wrong with giving a helping hoof," Honey defended, pushing Hurricane back with her head.

"No there's not, until you take it too far!" she said, pushing her back. Honey pushed her again. She pushed back again. The head-butting continued for a while. Pansy just huddled in fright behind Honey.

The sky began to darken around them. A low rumble cascaded above the trees. Pansy peeked out from her blue hair. She peeked up. Gasping, she jumped under Honey. Surprised by the strange feeling beneath her, Honey looked down, causing Hurricane to fall forward. They both noticed the shadowed ground and looked up. The shadow was created by a dark cloud that Hurricane's unhappy, glaring father was riding. She quickly pushed herself up and saluted him. He soared down and landed hard on the ground.

"What is the meaning of this, Hurricane?" be bellowed.

Putting her hoof down and standing tall, she responded, "These two slackers were falling behind. I stayed behind to get them in line." He gazed down at her, then at the other two fillies.

"You two may go. Catch up with your parents. And next time, keep up with the group," he ordered. Honey shook her head and quickly stepped over Pansy. She pushed her to get up, but she wouldn't budge. Honey laughed nervously. She bit onto her blue tail and began dragging her away smiling awkwardly. Hurricane shook her head at them. "Hurricane," he said, getting her attention, "Next time you come to me if there is a problem. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," she said, dropping her head.

"We need to catch up to the others," he said, bending down so she could climb on.

"Dad, I can fly myself," she argued.

"Your flying skills are lacking. It will be faster if I fly you," he said. She hesitated. "That's an order!" She quickly jumped on. He took off as soon as her hooves hit his back.

They soared over the tree tops. Below, slowly making their way back to the group was a disgruntled orange filly still dragging her balled up cousin. She let go to take a breath.

"Pansy," she breathed, "We are away from them now. Can't you walk?" She plopped down on her rear. Pansy peeked open one eye and carefully looked around. Seeing no danger, she slowly sat up. She saw her cousin's tired state.

Feeling guilty, she immediately apologized, "Oh Honey, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Pansy," she said, still out of breath.

"No. If I wasn't so afraid, you wouldn't have had to drag me here or pull me up the tree," Pansy defended.

"Pansy," she said, putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder, "It's okay to be afraid. You can't help it. You're just a timid filly. It's not your fault." She smiled at her. Pansy looked down.

"But I'm a pegasus. I'm not supposed to be afraid," Pansy said miserably.

"Don't listen to Hurricane. It doesn't matter what she says. You are who you are supposed to be," she said, lifting Pansy's head to look her in the eye, "And I don't mind dragging you around." She smiled.

"Thanks, Honey," she said softly, "You're the best." Pansy gave her a tight hug. Honey returned it gladly.

"Come on," Honey said standing up, "Let's catch up before our family starts to worry."

"Oh, I hope they don't get too worried," Pansy said with concern. Honey chuckled as they made their way to the others.

With a little encouragement from Honey, they quickened their pace and rush deeper into the forest. They had lost a lot of time. They had to hurry before the group got too far. They trotted for a good, uneventful while. But then something changed. The plants of the forest had transformed into a strange flora. The branches drooped lower on the trees. Vines and long leafy plants dangled all around. Shadowy bushes were grown up everywhere almost making the path undetectable. Altogether, the forest felt different. An uneasiness hung in the air.

"D-does it s-seem darker to y-you?" Pansy asked, speeding up to get closer to Honey.

"Hum," she hummed, looking around. Slowing down, she replied, "It does. And everything looks different too." She observed the strange scenery some more, taking in the tense feeling in the air. Pansy crouched down next to her, eyeing the scary forest as well. "Come on. Let's keep going," Honey said, trotting forward. Pansy eeped and ran after her.

Along the way, Honey had a hard time staying on the trail. It was very difficult to find it through all the shrubbery. She pressed on anyway. She was determined to catch up. In one particularly tight spot, the sharp branched of the bushes dug into her skin. She cringed, but bore the pain and pushed them out of the way so Pansy could get through. The timid filly carefully crept through, trying to avoid the sharp twigs. Once she managed to get through unharmed, Honey let go of the bush and quickly jumped up out of the bush. She glided down in front of her cousin. Pansy noticed the scratches. She knew she was making it hard for her. If she could just fly, this trip would be so much easier. They would have had met up with their family much more quickly as well. Her head hung low as they continued forward. Honey took notice. She nudged her gently. She lifted her head, face full of sorrow. The orange filly smiled kindly, rubbing her head on her's. She returned the smile.

After a while, they heard a loud commotion up ahead. Honey stopped, ears alert. She could hear crashing sounds and rustling leaves. She turned her head, trying to make out the sounds. Her ears where filled with distant shouts and roars.

"I think somepony's in trouble," Honey gasped. Pansy's ears went down and she took a step back. "Stay right here. I'm going up that tree to get a better look," Honey ordered.

"B-but…" Pansy said, being ignored. Honey was already heading up the tree. Partly flying, climbing, and jumping, she finally made it nearly to the top. She looked in the direction in which she heard the noises. It was still hard to see, but it looked like the pegasi were flying around some giant creature. Whatever it was, it wasn't friendly. She quickly made her way down and landed next to her shaking cousin.

"There's some kind of large creature attacking our group up ahead," Honey informed. Pansy squeaked and covered her eyes. "I think they need help. Come on."

"Y-you want u-us to g-go towards the d-danger?" Pansy asked shakenly, uncovering one eye.

"Pansy, I'm scared too. But that's our family," Honey said, uncovering her other eye, "They need our help." She looked at her desperately.

"But we're just fillies," she argued.

"I know, but…" Honey said unsure, looking away. They were just fillies. But her family needed her. She stood up and said with determination, "But we are pegasi! We are strong. And we must protect each other." She bent down to her level and gently said, "We may be scared, but we can do this." Pansy quickly covered her eyes and threw her tail over her face. Honey sighed with defeat. She stood up and looked back towards the commotion. She knew this was dangerous, but she couldn't just do nothing. She looked back down at her terrified cousin. Pansy wasn't strong enough for this.

Honey's eyes suddenly hardened. She quickly pulled a vine off a low branch of the tree and wrapped it around Pansy. She tossed the other end over the branch and flew up to another low branch catching the vine in her mouth on the way. She swiftly pulled her up and secured the vine around the tree. Before Pansy knew what happened, Honey said, "Stay here. You'll be safe up here. I'll be back as soon as I can." Honey leaped out of the tree before Pansy could beg her to stay. Honey was gone in a flash. Pansy whimpered and hid beneath her long pale blue mane and tail.

Honey dashed through the bushes, half flying and half running. She ignored the branches as they whipped her. The roaring penetrated her ears again. The sound grew louder as she hurried forward. The silhouette of the large creature began to form in front of her. It was larger than she had thought. She shook her head of any doubts and continued running. She could then make out the ponies flying around it. She sped up.

The creature's form became clear. Its long body was made of what appeared to be dripping mud, which left brown, mucky puddles all over the ground below and even oozed onto some of the clumsier pegasi. Leaf-like green spikes ran from its rounded head down to its long viney tail, making it difficult to land on its back for any sort of leverage. The end of its tail contained several long, red, piercing spines. It used these to its advantage as it swung its massive tail at the ponies. Two matching red horns protruded from its large head, protecting it from blows to its head. It stood tall on its short back legs, and its small arms hung uselessly form its huge body. Sharp red claws were retracted from all four paws, prepared to strike. Its teeth were sharp as well and dripping saliva, ready to chow down on its next victim. Its whiskered muzzle was short with a small brown nose, which was so strong it could smell the sweet and blood as it dripped from the combating pegasi. The most frightening features were its dark eyes. Instead of white, its eyeballs were black as coal. Its irises were green with intimidating red pupils that could stun a pony in freight. It threw up its head roaring at one of the pegasi that had flown too close, throwing him backward. Leaf-like spines flared up threateningly around its head.

Honey quickly halted, sliding to a stop. What was she doing? That thing was vicious! Even the adults were having trouble. They were flying sloppily around it, barely avoiding its swinging tail and biting teeth. She breathed rapidly, watching the creature bite at the flying ponies. But she had to help. She gulped and slowly trotted closer. She spotted her older siblings a distance from the battle hiding behind a large tree. She quickly ran to them.

"What happened?! What is that thing?!" she asked in a panic, trying and failing to stay quiet. They jumped back facing her with their wings out, ready for action. Seeing only their little sister, their bodies relaxed.

"Where have you been?" her sister asked.

"What are you doing here?" their brother questioned.

"I was helping Pansy. We got behind. And I came to help," Honey explained a little more calmly.

"You're still letting that wimp hold you back?" her sister asked with displeasure.

"I told mom and aunt Cymbidium Spring I was going to help her down. You heard me tell them," Honey said, a little aggravated.

"Yeah yeah, we heard you talking," her brother said, rolling his eyes, "Where'd you leave her, anyway?"

"Somewhere safe and away from here," Honey answered. "Now, tell me what happened."

"You'd know if you could keep up," her sister said.

"Amber, come on," Honey whined.

"It's Virga," she corrected angrily.

"Just tell me what happened. This is no time for jokes," Honey said with seriousness.

"Ahh, come on. We're just messin' with ya'," her brother said.

"Saffron, we're wasting time. They need our help," Honey pleaded.

"First of all, I told you to call me Shear," he said, pushing her with his hoof. "Secondly, we're not allowed to help," he said rolling his eyes.

"What? But…don't they need us?" Honey asked, her face wrinkled in confusion.

"Phff, you got that right," Virga said, peering around the tree as the battle continued. Every kick to the beast just left mud on their hooves. The dent in its body quickly oozed full of mud. Then the creature would attack again.

"We're stuck babysitting," Shear said, stepping aside. Now in view behind them were their younger brother and sister. They were twins as well.

"Haze, Fog," Honey gasped, running to the foals for a hug. They squealed happily.

Shear pushed her back, shaking his head. "You are really bad with names," he tisked.

"Yeah. It's like you don't even know us," Virga agreed.

"Huh? But you want me call you by your second names," Honey said.

"Yeah, but our second names are cooler," Shear stated.

"Their second names are kind of lame," Virga added.

"Much like our first names," he sighed.

"Call them by their first names," she said. "Ecru," she said pointing at her sister, Haze.

"And Aureolin," Shear finished, pointing his hoof at his brother, Fog.

"Get it straight, runt," Virga said, pushing her chest.

"Yeah, you don't see us calling you Dew, do you Honey Dew?" Shear teased. Honey pouted. She hated it when they teased her, which was pretty much every second they were together. And right now was not the time to be arguing about which names to call them, again. "Ah, lighten up," he said, shoving her.

"Lighten up? Our family is out there fighting a giant monster right now, and all you two can do is tease me!" Honey shouted.

"They won't let us help them, remember," Virga harshly reminded her.

"Plus, we're bored," he said, dropping his head to one side.

"Aren't you two worried? Don't you care?" Honey asked.

"Of course we care, dummy," Virga said, "But there's nothing we can do."

"Besides, they seem to be wearing it down now," Shear said, glancing around the tree. The creature was stumbling around. Its movements were slow and sloppy. Its muddy body was dripping severely.

"Yeah, no thanks to uncle Nimbus," Virga sneered. She pointed over to a large rock that their mud-covered uncle was using for cover.

"Pfft, sometime I thinks he's as cowardly as his daughter," Shear jeered.

"Nimbus Buff, more like Wimpus Untough," Virga laughed. Shear joined in.

"Stop laughing! At least he's trying," Honey shouted.

"Speaking of trying, look who decided join the fight," he said, pointing at a little yellow filly standing tall in front of the creature. Honey gasped and quickly dashed towards her. "Oof!" he said, holding his stomach.

"Shear! This isn't funny. Now they're both in real danger," Virga scolded. "Stay here and watch the twins, while I go get the little hero," she ordered, flying off to save the fillies.

"No fair! Why do you get to have all the fun?!" he shouted.

Honey ran blindly towards her cousin. She could hear the whooshing sounds of the pegasi as they zoomed above her. Mud was dripping everywhere. She was thrown up above the ground by the massive stomp of the large creature that was chomping and swinging its tail at the flying pests. She fell back down and continued running once she gained her balance. Her heart was racing. Her breathe was rapid. Her hooves pounded on the grown as she ran. Her wings were flapping useless against her sides. The beast's large green tail suddenly crashed to the ground in front of her. She gasped. Running faster towards it, she leaped up and spread her wings. She glided safely over it and continued running. Several mud pile obstacles slowed her down, but she finally reached her cousin.

"Pansy! What are you doing?! Get out of here!" she shouted. The yellow filly was standing stiff. Her green eyes where wide open as was her mouth. "Pansy, snap out of it!" Honey yelled, clapping her hooves in her face. Pansy blinked as her mouth closed. She shook her head. Her eyes found Honey frantically staring in her face.

"H-Honey?" Pansy said, finally coming to. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I just wanted to help. I kept slowing you down. I just wanted to be brave like pegasi are supposed to be," Pansy cried.

"Pansy, you were brave. You came all this way by yourself. But right now we have to get out of here!" Honey panicked. Pansy's eyes looked past Honey. She could see the large creature stomping around behind her cousin.

"M-m-m-monSTER!" she screamed. Honey grabbed her hoof and ran. Once Pansy started running on her own, Honey let go and ran faster.

"RETREAT!" Thunder Cloud suddenly ordered. Without question, everypony quickly flew away from the beast. He was perched on top of a large dark gray cloud above the creature. "Head back to the flat top mountain we passed earlier," he instructed as the pegasi began to fly past him. No longer distracted by the flying ponies, the enormous creature took notice of the fillies near its feet. It roared, flaring its green neck spines. Pansy screamed and ran faster, flapping her wings. Honey looked back. The creature had taken charge after then. She gasped and willed herself to go faster. With each step, the creature sent the two frightened fillies into the air. They landed clumsily back to the ground and stumbled back into a run. Its shadow began to cover them as it got closer. Honey's heart beat faster. Her hooves and wings were getting sore. Sliding through and jumping over mud puddles, their pace was slowed. Pansy was falling behind. Scared as she was, Honey slowed down and got behind Pansy. She pushed her with her head, helping her run faster. They could feel the creature's large paws stomping directly behind them, sending them higher into the air. Honey could almost feel its large red claws sweeping through her tail.

Then the stomping suddenly stopped. Honey fearfully glanced back. The creature was looking up, swatting at something orange and yellow with its spiked tail. It was Virga.

"Up here, you oversized mud heap!" Virga insulted. She swooped down, avoiding it swinging tail. She stumbled downward and sloppily pulled herself back up. Like the others, she still hadn't perfected her flying. "Whoa." She smiled, glaring back at the creature. "Is that all you got?" she egged him on. Honey smiled in relief at both her sister's regain of control and at her helping them. Then she continued pushing her cousin forward. Virga kept weaving around distracting the beast as her sister and cousin ran to safety.

A loud rumble suddenly boomed through the forest. All three ponies looked up. The dark cloud Thunder Cloud was standing on had expanded and blackened. Light coursed through it.

"Look out!" Shear shouted, quickly shoving Virga out of the tail's path. It clipped his back hoof, spinning him out of balance. Virga gasped and quickly flew to him as he descended. She bit his green tail and pulled him up. She stumbled. Shear quickly righted himself, keeping his sister from falling.

"You okay?" she breathed, worried.

"Yeah," he answered, a bit shaken.

"Where are the twins?" she asked.

"Right here," she said, gesturing to his empty back. They gasped and looked down in unison. They saw a brown and cream speck falling next to an orange and green one. Before they could soar after them, they heard their farther.

"You two get out of there! I'll get the foals!" he said, zooming down.

"But Honey's still down there!" Shear shouted.

"And Pansy too!" Virga added.

"Cirro, I'll get the fillies!" Nimbus spoke up. He soared past Shear and Virga, the creature now focused on him.

"Fujita!" Cirro yelled to his wife, "Keep it distracted! And get those two out of here!" She flew down and precisely bucked the beast between its dark eyes and red horns. It roared in pain.

"You heard your father," Fujita said, "Get out of here!" The twins hesitated but obeyed nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Cirro was quickly catching up to the falling foals. Seeing their dad, they giggled in glee. He smiled. He flapped harder and flew past them. He slowed down, catching them unsteadily on his back. He regained control and quickly flew up to safety. The creature had recomposed itself and was snapping at Fujita again. Down below Honey and Pansy were running, still waiting for Nimbus to reach them.

"What are you doing down there?!" Thunder Cloud demanded, peering over the cloud, "I ordered you all to retreat!"

Quickly approaching, Cirro shouted over the rumbling of the cloud, "Our family is still down there!"

He grunted, "You better get them out quick! This cloud is about to blow!"

"Nimbus, move your flank! Get them out of there before the cloud blows!" Cirro shouted down to his younger brother. Nimbus looked up. The cloud practically blocked all the light that was trying to shine through the trees. It was completely black now except for the lightening that was flowing through it. He gasped and quickly reached the ground. He landed roughly and ran beside the fillies.

"I got to get you two out of here!" he said.

"Daddy!" Pansy squealed. She immediately stopped running and tackled him. Honey slide to a stop. Looking up, she saw the monster was distracted by her mom. He pushed himself up, Pansy clinging to his back.

"Pansy, I can't fly like this," he said, pulling her off. He took her in his hoofs and hovered. "Come on," he said, reaching for Honey's hoof. Pansy slipped with a squeal. He quickly grabbed her with both hooves again and unsteadily righted himself. Honey looked at them, then at the monster. She looked back at Pansy. Her eyes were closed tight. Her hooves wrapped securely around her father's. She could see her chest heaving rapidly. Honey's face hardened.

"Take her to safety," Honey ordered.

"What are you talking about? Come on," he said, wobbling in the air and struggling to stay hovering.

"You can't carry us both! Just get her out of here. I'll figure something out," Honey yelled, tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm not leaving you behind! And I won't take orders from a filly," he said.

"Think about your daughter," she pleaded. Pansy was shaking and crying. "She needs your help more than I do. Go! You're wasting time!" she shouted, pushing him. He wobbled around. He looked up at the expanding cloud. Then he looked down at her.

"I'm sorry," he said. He took off into the air. Pansy opened her eyes. She saw Honey still on the ground as they flew up.

"Honey!" she screamed, "Daddy, you have to save her!"

"It's okay, Pansy! I'll figure this out! We're strong, remember?!" she yelled back at her.

"Honey, no!" she cried.

"I'll be fine," Honey promised with a smiled, tears rolling down her face.

"HONEY!" Pansy balled, tears rolling down her checks. Nimbus sniffed. He had to save his daughter. She had the least change of surviving on her own. Honey quickly scanned her surroundings. Mud and debris were scattered across the ground. She spotted a fallen tree that rested over a large rock near the creature's back paws. She smiled and quickly ran to it.

Finally seeing Nimbus flying out of the dark, Fujita flew away from the creature. She joined the others as they waited above the large cloud.

"Pansy! My little flower!" Cymbidium cried.

"Mommy!" Pansy cried. Nimbus carefully handed her over to his wife.

"Where's Honey?" Cirro asked, looking around. Nimbus looked down. "You left her!" he yelled.

"I couldn't carry both of them," Cirro sniffed, "She told me to leave her."

"That doesn't mean you listen to her!" Fujita screamed, ready to punch him.

"Get back!" Thunder Cloud interrupted, "It's going to blow!"

"Our daughter's still down there," Cirro told him.

"If I don't do this now, this cloud will blow out of control. There's no telling what damage it could cause," Thunder Cloud informed.

"What about our sister?" Shear asked.

"Hopefully she'll get herself out in time," he sighed, expression hard.

They were suddenly swooped up by a gray cloud. They pushed themselves up. Navy Rain was pushing the cloud away from the larger one. Her face was serious. She looked away. Honey's family looked down. Thunder Cloud was floating above the cloud, back legs ready to buck. Pansy found herself suddenly turned away. Hurricane held Pansy's head on her shoulder, covering her ears. BOOM! A massive light lit the forest below as the thunder rumbled closely behind it. Pansy jumped, frightened by the sound. Then she cried into Hurricane's shoulder for her cousin.

Thunder Cloud slowly flew over to the gray cloud. The cloud began to sprinkle water as the distressed family rode on top. He nodded to Navy Rain. She nodded back and pushed to cloud forward. He joined her, helping her push the broken family to the flat top mountain to meet up with the rest.

* * *

"Whoaaaaaaa!" a filly screamed as she was launched into the air past the black cloud. She soared above it. Freezing in the air for a second, she looked down at the now gray cloud. Then she started falling down. "Uh oh." She rapidly flapped her wings, slowing her decent. She hit the cloud with a poof. A filly shaped hole was left in the cloud. She popped her head up out of the hole. She shook the cloud from her mane. "Whoa. I definitely hope I don't have to ever do that again," she said to herself, hoping out of the hole. "At least not until I can really fly," she added, shaking some cloud off her back hoof.

She walked to the edge of the cloud and looked down. She cringed. The burnt creature was lying lifelessly down below. Its muddy body was dried to a clumpy crisp. The ground and trees around it were burnt black. "I'm really glad I wasn't down there when that happened," she said. She looked down at the creature again. Her eyes sadden as she said, "Poor thing." After all, they were the ones who invaded its home. Maybe it was just trying to protect its territory. Maybe it even had a family. She wasn't there when the others got there. For all she knew, they started the fight. She sighed sadly.

She backed up and looked around. Where did her family go? She remembered Thunder Cloud had said something about a flat top mountain. She looked around trying to find it. There was not much around her except for a foggy area in the distance. She squinted her eyes. She could just make out a large flat gray surface within the fog. That must be it. Then something else caught her eye. It was a smaller gray raining cloud. There were several colorful figures on top of it. She watched it for a moment. It was her family!

But how was she going to get to them? She still couldn't fly well enough to go that far. They probably couldn't hear her either. She looked around. She was stranded on a large cloud. No trees were close enough to reach. She bit her lip. She saved herself down there; she could figure this out too. She paced around, thinking. How could she get over there? She kicked at the clouds as she paced. Pieces floated up and then settled back down. She hummed. She scooped up some cloud and tossed it up. It floated down a bit, but floated independently above the larger cloud. She smiled. Walking to the edge of the cloud, she began digging. She kept digging until she created a hole all the way through. She repeated this until her little cloud was free. She stood up.

"Whoa," she said, wobbling. She sat back down. Spreading her wings, she lied down and hugged the cloud. She flapped them a few times to test it out. She and the cloud moved forward a bit. She smiled. She flapped some more, moving forward again. Then she flapped harder, moving the cloud at a slow, but steady pace towards the mountain.

* * *

Thunder Cloud and the rest had reached the others at the mountaintop. He and Navy Rain pushed the raining cloud against the edge of the mountain. The dejected family climbed off and gloomily marched past the waiting ponies. The older twins had their heads held high, trying to stay professional even though inside they were boiling mad. If Thunder Cloud hadn't fried that beast, they would have. Their parents did the same. Younger twins lying his back, Cirro was peeved as well. Inside, Fajita's sadness was staring to lose the battle to her anger. Nimbus tried to keep his head up, but it was very difficult. His body was drenched with guilt. Cymbidium was sorrowful, but more for her own filly. Pansy was on her back, wrapped in her mother's comforting wings, and her face was wet with still flowing tears. The other pegasi watched with confusion and curiousness as the family passed them. Hurricane climbed off the cloud. She looked at the broken family and quickly wiped away her stubborn tears as Thunder Cloud and Navy Rain landed in front of her. The others looked at their leader, awaiting answers.

"We will rest here for now," Thunder Cloud said aloud, "The forest is too dangerous." He walked past the crowd and turned to face them. "No pony is to step hoof in the forest beyond this mountain," he ordered. "That forest," he said, pointing down, "is dark. It is unlike the one we passed through before. It has already taken one of our own." He turned his head towards Cirro and Fujita. His eyes were hard; his anger clouded any sympathy he may have had. The pair were cradling their foals, theirs hoof placed next to eat other on the hard rock ground. Virga was sitting with her back to them. Shear was next to her, facing them slightly. They both were looking down in anger. Cymbidium and Cirro were both trying to comfort their daughter. The other ponies chattered among themselves in a mixture of surprise, sadness, and anger. "Once everypony is rested, I will take a group to go gather food from the safer forest," Thunder Cloud informed. "Rest, you've all earned it," he said, peering at all the mud, bruises, scratches, and bleeding wounds that stained his warriors' fatigued bodies. They were soldiers now, and he was their general.

A light suddenly caught his eye. He followed the glow to his flank. The others took notice, all trying not to stare. The light faded, reliving a mark. It was a dark gray cloud with lightening pulsing through it. At its bottom and below were five dark blue stars that matched his mane color. The stars were connected together, forming a pentagon. Everypony just stared, unsure of what to do.

"Whoa! What is that?!" Hurricane suddenly broke the silence.

"Hurricane!" Navy Rain hushed. The blue filly hunkered down. Navy Rain walked up to her husband. She glanced down at the mark. "Do you think it could be the unicorns that did this?" she whispered, seriousness in her voice. He looked down at the mark. "What if they were the ones who sent that creature on us?" she asked. He looked back, seeing the top of the mountain that the unicorns had traveled to far in the distance. He looked at the ground in thought, then back up at her.

"No," he said in a low tone, "I would like to blame them for that monster as much as you would, but they are far away from us now. They couldn't have done that, or this." He gestured to his flank. He stood up. The other stood up straight, giving him their full attention.

Unknowingly to the others who had their backs turned to face Thunder Cloud, the filly they thought they had lost had finally made it to the mountain top. She hoped off her little cloud and trotted over to the others. Before she could say anything, he began speaking.

"This is a mark of authority," he bellowed. "These…" he paused, studying the pointed shapes, "…stars and their arrangement mark me as your leader…your general, for you are all soldiers now. You proved this by your actions in the forest. As your general, I will train you all to become better flyers and better fighters. We must all learn to protect each other and ourselves, so we will never have to lose another pony again." He looked back at Honey's family. Honey smiled sadly from behind the crowd. He continued, addressing the others, "The thunder cloud symbolizes the weapon I used to defeat the monster. It shows my ability to take command over these clouds, to control them."

Honey looked down with a sigh, thinking about the poor, misunderstood creature. Eyes widening, she gasped. Stamped on her flank were two hooves of differing colors locked together inside a pink heart. One hoof was white outlined in blue; the other was yellow outlined in orange. The heart had a purple outline. She had a mark too. But she didn't have the authority he had. However, she did feel something. It felt good. She put her hoof on her chest. A warm, pleasant feeling flowed through her inside. She smiled.

She was brought out of her daze by a hoof stepping on her tail. She looked up at him. The stallion mumbled an apology and followed the others as they spread out to rest and lick their wounds. Once he had moved, she could see her family up ahead. She smiled and ran to them. As she approached them, she could see how upset they were. Most of them looked mad, probably angry at the creature. Her heart dropped when she saw Pansy, still crying on her mother's foreleg. Honey smiled sympathetically, and hurried over to them. She knew how happy her cousin would be once she saw she was okay.

Honey slowed to a trot once she reached them and cleared her throat, "Ahem." They looked up at the sound.

"Honey!" they gasped.

Fujita picked her up into a hug and said, "You scared me. I'm so glad you're okay." Honey smiled, embracing her back.

Cirro ruffled her mane and said, "That's my tough girl." Virga and Shear gathered around them.

"That creature was no match for my little sis," Virga said, softly punching Honey's shoulder. Honey's ears dropped as she was forced to think about the poor creature again.

"Yeah, you showed him!" Shear added. "How'd you do it anyway?" he asked.

"Well," she said slowly, "There was this fallen tree lying over a large rock. I jumped on one end and got the creature's attention. When it saw me, it swung its tail. I quickly jumped out of the way onto the other end. When its tail hit the tree, my end flew up and sent me into the air. As I went up, the lightening from the cloud went down and…struck the creature." She looked down.

"That must have been awesome!" Shear cheered.

"Yeah! Aw, I wish I could have seen it!" Virga added.

"Yeah, sure," Honey agreed, but all she could think about was the poor creature being fried to death. "Anyway, I was thrown up above the thunder cloud, which, thankfully, was no longer active. I landed on it. Then I broke off a small piece of it and used my wings to float it over here," she finished.

"Wow, I had no idea how cool you were," Shear admired with awe.

"You did good," Cirro praised. Honey smiled.

"I'm so proud of you. You really proved how strong you are," Fujita affirmed.

Virga made a face. "You mean you didn't fly?" she question.

"Um…" Honey hesitated, "I still can't really fly."

Virga pursed her lips. Honey looked at her with uneasiness. Then her big sister smiled and teased, "Ahh, that's okay, wimp; you'll learn. It's actually pretty cool that you got out of there without flying." She ruffled her mane. Honey smiled. Fujita put her down. Honey was immediately tackled.

"Honey! You're okay!" Pansy cried, hugging her cousin to the ground.

"I'm glad to see you too, Pansy," she tried to say, being squeezed. "But if you want to keep me around, maybe you should let go." Pansy quickly released her. Honey deeply inhaled. Once she regained her breath, she swiftly hugged Pansy back.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you both out," Nimbus sorrowfully apologized. She let go of Pansy and smiled up at him.

"You had to save Pansy, uncle Nimbus," she said, "It's not your fault." Cirro and Virga made a displeased sound. Fujita and Shear rolled their eyes. "Besides, I asked you to."

"I see your daughter has made it after all," Thunder Cloud suddenly spoke. Hurricane peeked around his legs. She smiled wide and then nodded her head. She was definitely impressed now. "She has showed great strength and courage. She will make a fine addition to our rank," he said. Hurricane frowned slightly, feeling a little jealous. Honey's family cheered her, but her ears went down.

She swallowed and stood up. She looked up at the large, black stallion and nervously said, "Thank you, I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to be a solider. I don't want to fight." Her family's expressions were a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"That was not an offer," Thunder Cloud bellowed, "It was an order. Every pegasi will be a solider and learn to fight."

Honey back away from the booming of his voice, but spoke her mind, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"What about your family?" he asked, not pleased, "They could get hurt if you can't help protect them." She looked back at them. Her eye caught sight of her mark. He followed her eyes. His eye ridges rose. Then they went down against his eyes.

"You have a mark as well," he said. The others took noticed and gasped.

"Yes," she looked back at him, "I think I got it for putting Pansy before myself. I think I'm meant to help those who can't help themselves."

"That is what soldiers do," he told her. She frowned and looked back at it.

"But it is a heart," Navy Rain pointed out, "She does not have powerful stars like you."

"I think the heart symbolizes her kindness," Cymbidium said with a kind smile. Honey smiled back.

"I don't think I'm meant to fight. I'm meant to help. I want to understand other creatures, not destroy them," Honey said, trying to stand tall.

"Enough," Thunder Cloud said loudly, "You will be a solider!" He turned and marched away. Navy Rain followed. Hurricane shook her head disappointedly at Honey and followed her parents. And she was impressed with her.

"You do not argue with your superiors," Cirro scolded and walked away.

"And you will be respectful," Fujita disciplined, leaving as well.

Walking past her, Shear said, "And I said you were cool."

Following him, Virga added, "From hero to wimp, like that." Honey dropped her ears and looked down. Nimbus motioned for Cymbidium to come. She picked up Pansy and followed. Dangling from her mouth, Pansy looked sadly back at her dejected cousin.

* * *

"Really? Are you kidding me?" Chaos asked in exasperation. His eyes were slightly angry, but they were more heavy and tried than anything. Even his raving was weak and half-hearted. Before the pegasi had run into the monster, Chaos was heavily leaning on Harmony. He had begged her several times to let him watch something else. Even the arguing ponies were not chaotic enough to keep the exhausted spirit upright.

"Your precious ponies finally wondered into my forest, and they all survived?!" he continued in frustration to Harmony, "Even that irritating little orange filly found a way out." He crossed his stubs and sighed angrily. Harmony ignored his ranting and looked pitifully at the Viewer. Honey just looked so sad. Chaos looked at Harmony and then at the Viewer. He shook his head. He noticed her mark again. "And what's with those marks they keep getting?" he asked. Harmony blinked and shook her head, clearing her head of the sad filly. "Did you do that? You didn't figure out a way to affect the planet from up here and not tell me, did you?" he probed, pointing an accusing stub at her.

"What?" she asked, a bit confused, "I thought maybe it was something you did."

He raised an eye ridge and said, "Really? Do I look like I'm in any shape to do something like that?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "No. I meant before. I thought maybe you did it when you were adding wings and horns to them."

He put a stub on his would-be chin and mused, "Huuum…that does sort of sound like something I would do. But, I didn't do it. Who else would mess with your ponies?" He hummed in thought. She put on her thinking face as well. "And you're sure you didn't do it?" he asked, looking at her.

"Yes. I think I would know if I had," Harmony said, "I think."

"Okay. Let's think. The marks appear to have meaning," Chaos thought aloud.

Harmony added, "They seem to have something to do with who the ponies are…who they are meant to be. They seem to show their…"

A flash suddenly filled the area in light blue light. "…destiny," they said in unison, looking at the flash. The blue blotched white being appeared in front of them.

"So it was you who did this," Chaos said, "I knew I liked you for a reason, messing with Harmony's creatures." He grinned. Harmony frowned at him.

"Hum hum," Destiny laughed.

"But why?" Harmony asked, "I've never seen you do anything like this before."

"Yeah, you usually work in ways we can't see," Chaos added.

"The marks on the ponies are certainly marks of destiny. They represent the unique talent that each pony is destined to have," Destiny explained. She put her stubs over the two spirits and directed them toward the screen. "However, I was not the one who gave them these marks," she said watching the Viewer. Harmony and Chaos looked up at her with uncertainty. Then all eyes focused on the heart shaped mark on the troubled filly's flank. Destiny noted, "These creatures are indeed very special."

 **Author's Note** **: Finally got this one up. That was a long one! A lot of things happened here, so please feel free to ask any questions you may have. And as always, reviews are welcomed (grammatical corrections as well)!**

 **P.S. There are two artworks up on my DeviantArt page now for Chapter 3. Feel free to check out my FimFiction page as well for more updates! (Both DeviantArt and FimFiction are under the same name: GoodieTwo-Shoes)**


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